Current:Home > ContactRobert Gates criticizes White House for being "slow" to approve weapons to Ukraine -Streamline Finance
Robert Gates criticizes White House for being "slow" to approve weapons to Ukraine
View
Date:2025-04-14 12:58:51
Former Defense Secretary Robert Gates criticized the Biden administration for the pace it's taking to approve weapons systems to Ukraine, given that the embattled country is the "most important" foreign policy issue the U.S. is facing "right now."
In an interview with "Face the Nation" that aired Sunday, Gates said the intelligence disclosures the Biden administration made to Ukraine and its NATO allies in the lead up to Russia's invasion was "very important." He also called the administration's ability to bring the alliance together in support for Ukraine "very impressive."
- Transcript: Former Defense Secretary Robert Gates on "Face the Nation"
But the administration has been dragging its feet in providing weapons systems, like tanks, rocket launchers and fighter jets, to Ukraine, Gates said.
"There's a debate for a long time: do we send tanks?" Gates said. "Well, finally, we sent tanks. Do we send things like the HIMARS and other kinds of capabilities? And we finally did it, but only after months and months of indecision. They've been worrying about, talking about F-16s for many, many months, and now we hear well, we're going to go ahead and allow the training on the F-16s. Well, that's a decision that could have been made six months ago."
President Biden told allies on Friday he was approving plans to train Ukrainian pilots on the F-16 fighter jets, according to a senior administration official. The decision was another shift by the Biden administration to provide more advanced weapons systems to Ukraine after long insisting that it was sending sufficient weapons to the country to defend itself and amid worries that Ukraine would use the advanced weapons in Russian territory.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has repeatedly asked for fighter jets from western allies. With Ukraine improving its air defenses and as it prepares to launch a counteroffensive against Russia, officials believe the fighter jets could be essential, the Associated Press reported.
"Truth is, if they had begun training pilots on F-16s six months ago, then those pilots would be able to get into those airplanes this spring," Gates said. "So it's the delays in the decision-making process and in getting the — and finally approving the weapons for- for Ukraine. I understand the need to avoid a direct confrontation with the Russians, but we've, I think we learned pretty early on that as long as we weren't providing things that could attack Russia proper, that Putin was not going to retaliate."
In response to criticism that the U.S. is giving too much of its weapons stockpiles to Ukraine, thus weakening the U.S., Gates said those weapons "are not necessarily the kinds of weapons we would rely on, if we ended up with in a confrontation, for example, with China."
"The military is watching very carefully to make sure we don't draw down our stockpiles and some of these weapons too far. And I think they're monitoring that on a very, very closely," he said.
Gates said he thinks currently the biggest threat to the U.S. is polarization, which has been made worse by "a level of meanness and a lack of civility among our politicians or the sense that somebody who disagrees with you is not just somebody you disagree with, but is an enemy, is a bad person."
"This lack of civility is, I think, something new and really is pretty pervasive in the Congress," he said. "And it sets a pretty bad example for the rest of the country."
He said the solution needs to start with leaders, suggesting they stop demonizing people who disagree with them.
"You can say, 'My opponent has a different point of view. I totally disagree. I think that that would be a terrible mistake, but I also believe that he or she also is trying to do what he thinks, he or she thinks what is best for America,'" he said. "It's pretty simple actually."
But, he said, one of the issues that has united Democrats and Republicans is China — but he called for a "more nuanced policy."
"There's kind of a competition on the Hill to see who can be tougher on China," Gates said. "It makes a more nuanced policy by the administration more difficult, because anything that the administration does to try and put a floor on this relationship gets criticized on the Hill as conceding something to the Chinese. But I think by and large that there is very broad bipartisan support for what the U.S. is doing for Ukrainians, and I think it's also in terms of China."
- In:
- Biden Administration
- Ukraine
- Russia
Caitlin Yilek is a politics reporter for CBS News Digital. Reach her at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter: https://twitter.com/hausofcait
TwitterveryGood! (2343)
Related
- 'Survivor' 47 finale, part one recap: 2 players were sent home. Who's left in the game?
- Why Jillian Michaels Is Predicting a Massive Fallout From Ozempic Craze
- Michael Jackson Biopic Star Jaafar Jackson Channels King of Pop in New Movie Photo
- Suspect in killing of TV news anchor’s mother pleads not guilty
- The 401(k) millionaires club keeps growing. We'll tell you how to join.
- The Packers visit the 49ers for record-setting 10th playoff matchup
- Texas A&M reports over $279 million in athletics revenue
- North Carolina school board backs away from law on policies on pronouns, gender identity instruction
- North Carolina trustees approve Bill Belichick’s deal ahead of introductory news conference
- Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue, created to combat winter, became a cultural phenomenon
Ranking
- Paige Bueckers vs. Hannah Hidalgo highlights women's basketball games to watch
- Heat retire Udonis Haslem's No. 40 jersey. He's the 6th Miami player to receive the honor
- Islanders fire coach Lane Lambert, replace him with Patrick Roy
- In small-town Wisconsin, looking for the roots of the modern American conspiracy theory
- NHL in ASL returns, delivering American Sign Language analysis for Deaf community at Winter Classic
- Some 500 migrants depart northern Honduras in a bid to reach the US by caravan
- Watch this cowboy hurry up and wait in order to rescue a stranded calf on a frozen pond
- Hey Now, These Lizzie McGuire Secrets Are What Dreams Are Made Of
Recommendation
Justice Department, Louisville reach deal after probe prompted by Breonna Taylor killing
4 local police officers in eastern Mexico are under investigation after man is shot to death
Trawler crashed on rocks off after crew member fell asleep, boat’s owner says
Iran launches satellite that is part of a Western-criticized program as regional tensions spike
A Mississippi company is sentenced for mislabeling cheap seafood as premium local fish
Trawler crashed on rocks off after crew member fell asleep, boat’s owner says
Sports Illustrated may be on life support, but let me tell you about its wonderful life
Trump’s attorney renews call for mistrial in defamation case brought by writer in sex-abuse case