Congressman Michael Waltz: Biden's actions to support Ukraine have been 'heartless'

U.S. Rep. Michael Waltz says the Biden administration's approach to Russia's war on Ukraine has been stronger with words than actions.

In an interview with The News-Journal on Thursday and with other media outlets since Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's address to Congress a day earlier, Waltz has been making the case that the United States should support Poland supplying its neighbor with MiG-29 fighter planes to counter Russia's aerial assault on Ukraine's cities and civilians.

"Send the damn MiGs," Waltz tweeted on Wednesday.

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He followed that by saying Russia President Vladimir Putin — like other dictators — is empowered by his adversaries' weakness.

While President Joe Biden and NATO allies have levied a wide range of sanctions on Russia, they have not used military might to intervene and stop the bloodshed in an effort to prevent a World War III.

"By letting fear of escalation be the primary driver of our policy in Ukraine, we are dangerously giving Putin space to climb rung after rung up the escalation ladder. He will continue to push unless he believes he will meet American steel," Waltz wrote in an opinion piece for Fox News.

Biden's approach has included more than $1 billion in assistance to Ukraine, including anti-armor and anti-air weaponry in addition to more than $100 million in humanitarian aid, food, water and medicine, to help Ukrainian people.

“We will not fight a war against Russia in Ukraine. Direct confrontation between NATO and Russia is World War III, something we must strive to prevent," Biden said last week.

A tougher stance, including the threat of U.S. military involvement, would have deterred the Russians even before the invasion started on Feb. 24, said Waltz, a former Green Beret and Pentagon adviser who sits on the House Armed Services Committee.

Biden needs to "draw some clear parameters," threatening Russia if it employs weapons of mass destruction, including chemical and biological tools.

"The president needs to state very clearly all options are on the table," Waltz told The News-Journal.

He didn't shy away from two of the stronger comments made by congressional colleagues in recent days.

Waltz said he agrees with House Minority Whip Steve Scalise, who recently referred to the Russian incursion as a "genocide." And he didn't shy away from Sen. Rick Scott's description of Biden as "heartless."

"I think it's a pattern," Waltz said. "(Biden's) approach to Afghanistan was absolutely heartless and still is. … Not providing the Ukrainians arms before they were invaded was not only bad strategy but also heartless, so yes, I agree."

Also referencing Biden's approach to human trafficking along the U.S.-Mexico border and China's treatment of Muslim Uighurs, Waltz said: "This administration has one of the worst records in human history when it comes to human rights."

He added that Biden's rhetoric has been empathetic, but his actions have fallen short.

In an interview with NBC on Wednesday, Zelenskyy said World War III might already be at hand.

"Nobody knows whether it may have already started. … And we've seen this 80 years ago, when the Second World War had started … nobody would be able to predict when the full-scale war would start," Zelenskyy said.

In his Fox News piece, Waltz argued one of the rules of warfare is to make adversaries respond, rather than taking a reactive approach.

Waltz said a stronger U.S. approach to deter Russia does not necessarily equal World War III. He said Biden's administration has made "a correct distinction" between equipping the Ukrainians to fight for themselves and directly involving U.S. forces.

"What is wrong is the administration trying to parse the difference in different weapons systems," he said in reference to the MiGs. "We need to get the Ukrainians everything they need."

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This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: 'Fear of escalation' of Russia war fails deterrence effort, Waltz says