Appearing on CNN’s “The Lead with Jake Tapper” on Friday, Senator Bob Corker said the Obama administration’s response to Russia’s intervention in Ukraine has been “a day late and a dollar short.”
“I think the administration has created this air of permissiveness,” said Senator Corker.
“What we did in Syria, by jumping into Russia’s lap and letting them drive policy there after the chemical weapons issue came to the forefront, has really been informative, I think, to the people of Russia and, candidly, our allies, and I think (Russia is) in fact playing us instead of us moving ahead with sectoral sanctions, which we’ve been urging [the Obama administration] to do to push back on Russia. Instead, we continue to watch what (Russia is) doing and try to respond to that. But it seems that in doing so we create a policy that is always a day late and a dollar short and we don’t have the desired outcome that we’d like to see happen for our nation.”
Senator Corker further advocated for the U.S. to consider providing military aid to Ukraine.
“I think it’s time for us to consider anti-tank weaponry, anti-aircraft weaponry,” he said. “(We) need (Russia) to understand that they are going to pay a price if they do come (further into Ukraine).”