Former NATO commander: Congress needs to give Ukraine military tools to defeat Russia

Retired U.S. Air Force Gen. Philip Breedlove, who served as Supreme Allied Commander of NATO, said at the Dole Institute in Lawrence that Congress should give Ukraine the military resources necessary to defeat Russia on the battlefield or risk future conflicts initiated by Russia. (Kansas Reflector screen capture from Dole Institute video)

LAWRENCE — Retired U.S. Air Force Gen. Philip Breedlove viewed the U.S. House’s movement toward votes on military, economic and humanitarian aid to Ukraine amid a grueling war with Russia as an opportunity for the United States to clearly define intentions in a region marked for domination by Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Breedlove, a four-star general who served as Supreme Allied Commander of NATO, said Ukraine was in an “incredibly tough place right now” with strained military resources after a decade of combat against a powerful invader. He said Putin grossly misjudged Ukrainian capabilities and Russia has absorbed staggering casualties in fighting that offered flashes of the trench-warfare and artillery-bombardment quagmire of World War I.

He said the desire to avoid a wider war in other non-NATO countries in Europe or a tactical nuclear conflict remained at the forefront of U.S. foreign policy. But, he said, necessary caution shouldn’t prevent a forthright statement of purpose from leaders of the country responsible for delivering half the foreign aid to Ukraine since Russia took another bite of Ukrainian territory in the February 2022 invasion.

“The most important thing we could ‘give’ Ukraine right now doesn’t cost a dime,” Breedlove said last week at the Dole Institute of Politics at the University of Kansas. “It really is an expression of our commitment to what their future is. We owe them to publicly acknowledge, a declarative policy, about what we intend to do for Ukraine in a war against a world superpower.”

He said Congress could choose to end financial support and leave Ukraine to fight on before complete subjugation by Russia. The general said the United States and other Western powers could maintain the status quo, which was to keep Ukraine “viable” through imposition of economic sanctions and delivery of enough military aid for a war of attrition likely to end with a settlement conceding substantial territory to Russia.

Breedlove’s preference was a third option: Deliver to Ukraine the military resources required to halt Putin’s advance and drive Russia out of the country. At some point, he said, resolve must be found to block Putin’s quest to restore a Warsaw Pact-type buffer between Russia and NATO.

“We are 10 years into an illegal, immoral and inhumane war,” Breedlove said. “It was built at purpose and started at purpose for Mr. Putin, who wants to change the structure of Eastern Europe. Ukraine is the first step. He will not stop at Ukraine. We are at a point where we’re going to have to make a decision about how we react to Mr. Putin.”

In terms of Ukraine, war with Russia began in 2014 when Russia occupied and annexed Crimea from Ukraine and backed pro-Russian separatists in Donbas. Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine was launched in February 2022.

“I believe, given the right equipment, Ukraine could expel Russia from their lands,” the general said. “Then, we would have to deal with a defeated Putin and a defeated Russia. There is no zero-risk way ahead. We need to be intellectually honest and say, ‘We don’t have a crystal ball.’ The answer, I think, is not to capitulate.”

On Monday, U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson said he planned to advance, perhaps this week, legislation outlining aid to Ukraine, Israel, Taiwan and other allies. It’s not clear whether a measure allocating funding to Ukraine could pass in the House given opposition by conservative Republicans. The U.S. Senate approved an assistance package endorsed by President Joe Biden, but it hasn’t been advanced by House GOP leadership.

The four-person Kansas delegation in the U.S. House initially supported military, economic and humanitarian aid for Ukraine in wake of the 2022 invasion.

Since then, Democratic U.S. Rep. Sharice Davids has voted in favor of two subsequent Ukraine spending bills. U.S. Reps. Tracey Mann and Ron Estes, both Republicans, voted against those aid packages. U.S. Rep. Jake LaTurner, a Republican, voted for the first supplemental bill in 2022 but not the most recent assistance package for Ukraine in 2023.

In addition, Mann supported three amendments to a 2023 appropriations bill that would have blocked or conditioned U.S. financial support for Ukraine. Estes backed one of those amendments, while Davids and LaTurner opposed all three. None of those amendments passed the U.S. House.

The organization Republicans for Ukraine, which is part of Defending Democracy Together, issued a report card based on six congressional votes regarding U.S. assistance to Ukraine. Estes and Mann received grades of F from the organization, while LaTurner rated a D grade. As a Democrat, Davids wasn’t included in the grade-card report.

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