Today, Rep. Mike Gallagher joined Dana Perino on Fox News to discuss CIA Director William Burns’ comments that China is in a “silent partnership” with Russia, and steps the U.S. can take to send a stronger message of support to the Ukrainian people.
Watch the full interview here, or read highlights from the conversation below.
On Russia and China’s “silent partnership:”
“CIA Director Burns is right, except it isn’t a silent partnership. Prior to the invasion of Ukraine, Xi and Putin signed a 5,000 word statement proclaiming a partnership without limits. So Putin is merely becoming Xi’s sadistic sidekick in this New Cold War that they have launched against the West. He will only grow more dependent on China the more he experiences setbacks in Ukraine.”
On lessons the U.S. should learn from the crisis in Ukraine:
“The lesson for us is at least twofold. One, we need to recognize who we are dealing with — two brutal dictators that want to destroy the West. And secondly, we need to wean ourselves off of our addiction to cheap Chinese manufacturing. You know, Dana, we’ve been scratching our heads throughout the Ukraine crisis, wondering how the Europeans could have gotten themselves into a position where they’re so dependent on Russia for basic energy resources. Well, we’ve done the same except with different goods in terms of our dependency on China. So if we’re to have a chance of winning this competition, we need to selectively decouple our economy from China before it’s too late.”
On sending U.S. officials to Ukraine:
“At a minimum, I think the Secretary of Defense should go to Ukraine. And I would add to that I think we should reopen our Embassy in Kyiv. The fact that we keep abandoning embassies around the world suggests that we are in a weak position. I think the Biden administration could send a stronger signal by both reopening the embassy and sending Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin to Ukraine.”
