Dem Rep. Himes: Biden ‘Needs to Understand’ That Goal Should Be Ukraine Winning and Be Less Concerned about Provoking Putin

On Monday’s broadcast of CNN’s “Situation Room,” Rep. Jim Himes (D-CT) argued that “the White House needs to understand that, carefully, we need to put armor into the hands of the Ukrainians” and arm them with fighter jets and other pieces of equipment, “not so that we can achieve what we hoped to achieve two weeks ago, that is, that they would put up a good defense, but so that they can win this war.”

Himes stated, “I would not have allowed myself to have said this two weeks ago, but the Ukrainians now must win the war. This war must be won by the Ukrainians and we need to do what we need to do to facilitate that happening. Because there is no circumstance, based on what we’ve seen, that the Russians can come out of this misadventure with any gain.”

Host Wolf Blitzer then asked, “Do you think the U.S. has a moral responsibility, Congressman, to do more in light of these atrocities? Does the U.S. need, for example, to ramp up its military support big time?”

Himes responded, “I do. I think it’s both a moral and a practical responsibility. Of course, it’s a moral responsibility in the face of what we’ve seen. Think about this way, Wolf, and I’ve listened to the White House’s arguments, concern about sending MiGs and that sort of thing because Putin might escalate. Now, look, I’m not going to dismiss the importance of not going into a realm where there’s a use of a tactical nuclear weapon. But how much more escalation do you want than the murder of children and women, the summary execution of people with their hands tied behind their back? More than ever, I think the world understands, and I think the White House needs to understand that, carefully, we need to put armor into the hands of the Ukrainians, we need to put fighter jets and other military capabilit[ies] into the hands of the Ukrainians, not so that we can achieve what we hoped to achieve two weeks ago, that is, that they would put up a good defense, but so that they can win this war. We need to change our aims in this country and in the West to the Ukrainians winning this war.”

Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett