By Michael R. Pompeo | Fox News
Vladimir Putin did what we all have known he was going to do for months: He invaded Ukraine.
This invasion was by no means inevitable. We in the Trump administration knew that it was Putin’s aim to establish Russian dominance and influence over all the old Soviet bloc countries, including in Ukraine. We were able to keep an invasion like this one from occurring by establishing a model of deterrence not just with respect to Russia, but with anyone who threatened to harm or undermine our interests.
We kept the Nord Stream 2 pipeline from being completed, we withheld talks on a new START treaty, and we worked with our partners in NATO to increase defense spending and present a greater potential response to any act of Russian aggression.
We knew what Putin wanted to accomplish if given the chance, and we took the steps necessary to ensure he didn’t get that chance. Make no mistake, Putin is about the business of trying to bring back the Soviet Union. We must not allow that to happen.
It is not Vladimir Putin who has changed; it’s American leadership that’s changed.
Vladimir Putin did what we all have known he was going to do for months: He invaded Ukraine.
This invasion was by no means inevitable. We in the Trump administration knew that it was Putin’s aim to establish Russian dominance and influence over all the old Soviet bloc countries, including in Ukraine. We were able to keep an invasion like this one from occurring by establishing a model of deterrence not just with respect to Russia, but with anyone who threatened to harm or undermine our interests.
We kept the Nord Stream 2 pipeline from being completed, we withheld talks on a new START treaty, and we worked with our partners in NATO to increase defense spending and present a greater potential response to any act of Russian aggression.
We knew what Putin wanted to accomplish if given the chance, and we took the steps necessary to ensure he didn’t get that chance. Make no mistake, Putin is about the business of trying to bring back the Soviet Union. We must not allow that to happen.
It is not Vladimir Putin who has changed; it’s American leadership that’s changed.
