Republican Rep. Warren Davidson blamed the Biden administration for having ‘no plan’ in Ukraine after officials fighting against Russia there said the F-16 jets that are due to arrive soon are ‘irrelevant.’
The Ukrainian Air Force is expected to receive the multi-million dollar aircrafts in July, as pilots have been trained and the war-torn country’s airfields prepared.
But American-made jets are ‘no longer relevant’ to the war, a senior Ukrainian military official stated Wednesday, adding that ‘shells and rockets’ are what’s needed in 2024.
Now, with Ukrainian officials indicating they couldn’t care less about the $62 million warplanes, conservatives are even more concerned about the White House’s long-term strategy for the war.
‘When everything started, we said ‘give us the mission,” Davidson, R-Ohio, told DailyMail.com in an interview. ‘Unless you tell us the mission, how can we possibly say what resources you need? You’re not telling us what you’re trying to accomplish.’
A Ukrainian military official said that F-16 fighter jets are ‘no longer relevant’ for Ukraine as he urged the West to send ‘shells and rockets’ instead
The Ukrainian Air Force is expected to take a delivery of the supersonic multirole fighter aircrafts in July
‘The [Biden] administration has said ‘as much as it takes as long as it takes,” Davidson continued, adding that’s ‘no plan from the get go.’
‘And so there really hasn’t been a coherent strategy by the administration at any point here,’ the Ohio Republican added.
Republican firebrand Rep. Matt Gaetz also took a shot at the U.S. efforts to arm Ukraine, saying ‘it’s all a grift’ to make money in a post on X Thursday.
Before their arrival, the F-16’s were thought to be the war-winning weapon that could tilt the balance in the war with Russia in Ukraine’s favor.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had asked Biden to approve the planes for use in the war for months.
Biden finally agreed to send the F-16s to Ukraine last year but Ukrainian pilot training has prolonged the delivery of the weapons.
‘Often, we just don’t get the weapons systems at the time we need them – they come when they’re no longer relevant,’ a high-ranking Ukrainian military officer told Politico.
‘Every weapon has its own right time. F-16s were needed in 2023; they won’t be right for 2024.’
Another official even admitted that there may be no U.S. military equipment that could turn the tides in the bloody war.
‘There’s nothing that can help Ukraine now because there are no serious technologies able to compensate Ukraine for the large mass of troops Russia is likely to hurl at us,’ a top-ranking military source said.
‘We don’t have those technologies, and the West doesn’t have them as well in sufficient numbers.’
Davidson also suggested more U.S. aid for Ukraine won’t impact the war much.
‘Some of the things that you hear the administration say they want to accomplish, I think it’s pretty clear that Ukraine can’t accomplish that no matter how much money we send to them.’
Rep. Warren Davidson, R-Ohio, ripped President Joe Biden for not having a ‘coherent strategy’ for the ongoing war in Ukraine
‘They don’t have the combat power to do all that on their own,’ he added.
And planes, he said, are not even a top priority.
‘The most urgent thing for us right now is artillery shells and rockets.’
Davidson, a former Army Ranger, also commiserated with the soldiers.
‘Kudos to the Ukrainians to the people fighting for their country on the ground,’ he told DailyMail.com
‘I know they’re facing a pretty dire situation.’
Still, the House has not moved on a $60 billion military aid package that the Senate passed in February and whether that bill gets taken up in the lower chamber remains unknown.