Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo tied the efforts to undercut Russia’s bloody invasion of Ukraine with the struggle to counter Chinese aggression.
Agreeing that United States aid to Ukraine has depleted the nation’s military stockpiles, Pompeo differed from critics that the aid is making the U.S. more vulnerable against China, underscoring how the war in Ukraine is “deeply connected” with China, implying that it comes down to deterrence.
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“I think it is incredibly important that we push back against what is a Chinese-Russian effort in Ukraine,” Pompeo said on Fox News’s Sunday Morning Futures with Maria Bartiromo. “These are deeply connected. They’re not separate ideas.”
Pompeo’s remarks followed Sen. Ron Johnson’s (R-WI), who appeared to voice skepticism about prolonged aid to Ukraine. Responding to a question about fears of China invading Taiwan in 2024, Johnson highlighted how the war in Ukraine has drained some of the U.S. military arsenals.
“One of the problems is war in Ukraine is depleting our stockpile of munitions,” Johnson told Fox News’s Sunday Morning Futures with Maria Bartiromo. “We need to be sure that we can defend our own nation before we start to beat the drums of war around the world. The best way to counter all of this is to strengthen America.”
Conservatives have splintered over the aid to Ukraine. Already, the U.S. has approved over $113 billion in both military and humanitarian aid, including through loans, according to the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget.
“We have depleted some of our stockpiles. We need to rebuild them. This is a long time coming in the failure to reinvigorate and rebuild,” Pompeo concurred. “But Maria, we can absolutely do this. We have the capacity to rebuild, to rearm, to refit, to build a military that is capable of the singular task, which is deterrence.”
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Last week, Chinese President Xi Jinping met with Russian President Vladimir Putin during a three-day summit in a move that rattled the foreign policy establishment in the U.S., raising fears of a strengthening alliance between the duo. China floated a peace plan for Ukraine last month, which has been rejected by the west.
Pompeo is mulling a run for president and has teased a decision will be made within the next couple of weeks.
