The Lead with Jake Tapper: Rep. Elissa Slotkin, (D-MI), Is Interviewed About Russia, Ukraine, War, Vladimir Putin, F-16 Jets
Interview
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Sure.
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Yes, I mean, look, we're still trying to get ground truth on it. But it's a pretty momentous thing to happen if the reports are true, that it's from a group that's, you know, disaffected Russians against Putin.
I mean, it's not something I've ever seen in my time as a national security person for the past 20 years. And I just think it shows like how weak Putin is becoming if these things are popping up, he can't stop them, and now he's playing the victim card. That's pretty amazing.
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Well, I don't know. I think the frame needs to just be reflected here. The -- this is the Russian army who took months and months to take a city that's smaller than Lansing, Michigan. They've destroyed it. In the meantime, there's no civilians barely there, living there anymore.
So, this great victory that they're touting to me is just actually a reflection of their weakness that they have to celebrate, you know, this liberation after all these years. They've lost, my estimates, 100,000 people, and I've seen like, how it's changed what they can do, even along their own borders.
I was in Norway in December, and the border guards in Norway were saying, look, there used to be all these border guards on the Russian side, but now they've all been sent to fight in Ukraine, and they haven't come back.
So, I don't think it's some amazing victory. I actually think it reflects the weakness that they have to celebrate this particular victory.
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Yes. I mean look I think we've done a lot of work to support the Ukrainians with material, with military support. We can't keep doing that in perpetuity for 10 years, 20 years. So we really need to aid their fight this summer to punch Putin a few times in the mouth, change the status quo, help them with the summer offensive, make sure they have the amount of weapons they need, the type of weapons they need, so that it changes the status quo. I think that's what we're all aiming for.
As Zelenskyy and the Ukrainians feel like things have changed, they have an upper hand, and they can call the shots on a negotiation or a conversation after that. But it all happens by having some serious military victories this summer. So time is of the essence.
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Yes, I mean, look, I was part of a bipartisan group that has been writing to the President and encouraging him to allow this training. We know that the Ukrainians take to this training, we had some leaks over the weekend that show that Ukrainians take like four months to get trained up on these weapons or on these airframes, and that we know we have allies from NATO who are ready to supply F-16 in similar platforms.
I can't speak, all I can say is, if you're the president of the United States, you do have a responsibility to minimize escalation. And the President does not want American sons and daughters getting pulled into a war. So I understand the instinct.
I think, for me, given how far Putin has gone, given what he's done, the dynamic has changed. He is not capable of escalation beyond what he's done. We've seen that. And so we want to make sure that we're giving, again, the Ukrainians that advantage this summer. So, I support what's been done.
You know, look, we've -- this developed a process here in Washington where pressure does help get us to the right place, but the President does have a responsibility to always be measured about dragging us into a conflict.
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Thank you.
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