Rep. Waltz to Newsmax: US Must Train Ukraine's Military to Use Lethal Aid

Rep. Michael Waltz Wednesday on Newsmax said he doesn't want to see U.S. troops in Ukraine, but insisted that the United States must provide that country's troops with training on the lethal aid it's providing for the fight against Russia. 

"These aren't things where you can just pull out an instruction manual and right radar that can detect Russian artillery and try to direct Ukrainian artillery to take it out," the Florida Republican, who has served as a U.S. Army Green Beret, told Newsmax's "Wake Up America." "You actually need the training and my suspicion is that the Biden White House has deemed training the Ukrainians outside of Ukraine is too escalatory."

This means the White House is continuing to allow Russian President Vladimir Putin to "dictate the terms" of the war, said Waltz. 

"No U.S. forces in Ukraine, I'm not calling for that," he stressed, "but give them all of the equipment and the training they need to fight their fight."

Waltz's comments come after he pressed Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chair Gen. Mark Milley during congressional testimony on Tuesday about whether the Ukrainian troops are being trained. 

Austin testified that the training is happening, but Waltz noted that last week, NATO Commander Gen. Tod Wolters testified before a House committee that no training was happening and "as a policy matter, we are not providing the training on how best to use it."

Milley also testified that the war in Ukraine could go on for years, and Waltz said that the hostilities have already been going on between Ukraine and Russia for eight years.

"Russia invaded Ukraine in 2014, and the Obama administration literally threw blankets at the problem," said Waltz, adding that former President Donald Trump was the one to give Ukraine lethal aid. 

Waltz said he doesn't disagree with Milley that the war could take several more years to end, but also said he wants the U.S. policy on Russia and Ukraine to change from being one that manages a stalemate between the neighboring countries. 

Instead, Waltz said he wants to see a strategy from the Pentagon to help Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to drive Russia from his country altogether, including in Crimea and the Donbas region, but that's not what's coming from the White House. 

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