Source: United States Senator for Florida Marco Rubio
Russia’s Putin is losing in Ukraine – beware greater dangers that lie ahead
U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL)
March 18, 2022
Fox News
… It should now be clear to everyone, including [Vladimir] Putin himself, that deciding to invade Ukraine was the greatest miscalculation of his career….
The West has issued a strong, unified response, one that is crushing the Russian economy and empowering the resistance in Ukraine. Most of all, the fighting spirit of the Ukrainian people, which surprised even our own intelligence community, has proven a match for the Russian military….
And yet, this is not the time to pat ourselves on the back. Greater dangers lie ahead – for Ukraine, but for America and the world, too.
Policymakers need to understand that Putin’s risk tolerance will be higher now than it was a month ago, or even a week ago…. Faced with failure, Putin will likely escalate the conflict – bomb more civilians, target international aid corridors, ramp up his cyberwarfare – to regain bargaining power….
But that doesn’t mean Putin gets a veto on what the U.S. can and can’t do to help Ukraine. On the contrary, it means policymakers must communicate clearly to Putin that escalating the conflict and harming Americans will only incur more severe consequences for Russia’s military and economy….
It’s impossible to predict how the conflict in Ukraine will play out…. One thing is certain, though — [Putin] cannot achieve true victory. The Biden administration must continue to make that clear, in the hope that Putin will eventually acknowledge he has lost.
Read the rest here.