Kay Bailey Hutchison, the U.S. ambassador to NATO under former President Donald Trump, told Newsmax that the West "could do more" to help Ukraine beat back Russia.
Joining "The Record With Greta Van Susteren," Hutchison said the United States and its European allies have "done a lot" for Ukraine, but it is still in their interest to continue providing Kyiv security assistance.
"Our NATO allies are there with us," said Hutchison, a Republican senator from Texas for two decades. "We are concerned that Germany is not coming forward with the equipment that they have promised that they would do."
Germany has "been very reluctant to go out front — to go on the offensive at all" — since World War II, Hutchison said of the country's reluctance to commit to sending its Leopard tanks to Ukraine.
"We need Germany to step up and be strong," the former U.S. official continued. "They have been hesitant because of the aftermath of World War II, but they are players that have to produce for us."
Hutchison also said German Chancellor Olaf Scholz should decide sooner rather than later whether to provide heavy weaponry to Ukraine, noting that many expected a pledge this week during the World Economic Forum's annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland.
"Mr. Scholz did not do that, as we had hoped he would," she said. "But there is a chance tomorrow when all of the military is meeting together in Germany at Ramstein Air Force Base ... and I hope we will get them to buy in.
"We're doing our part and we need for everyone to step up, because it is in our own security interests that we beat back this Russian invasion," Hutchison said.
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