Pompeo: Putin Doesn't See Joe Biden as 'Credible'

Former US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo speaks at Jerusalem Post's annual conference on Oct. 12, 2021 in Jerusalem, Israel. ( Amir Levy/Getty Images)

Vladimir Putin doesn’t see President Joe Biden as “credible” as the United States grapples with a threatened invasion by Russia into Ukraine, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo charged Sunday.

In an interview on “Fox News Sunday,” Pompeo warns the Biden administration is “downplaying the risk” Russian troops pose as they amass outside Ukraine.

“I think they don't see President Biden as credible,” Pompeo said of Putin’s government. “I think they see all this talking, these pieces of paper being exchanged just not credible.”

Pompeo lamented the Biden administration’s handling of the escalating crisis.

“They don't do the right thing, they don't protect the American people, establish deterrence and prevent, reduce the risk that President Biden called a 'minor incursion.'”

He said the assessment was reminiscent “of what [former] President [Barack] Obama called ISIS —‘the J.V.’ right?  Same kind of downplaying the risk. When he talks about a minor incursion, this concocts an awful lot of life to be lost not only in Ukraine but in other places in Europe and energy prices to skyrocket all across the world."

According to Pompeo, the United States needs to be “unequivocal.”

“When one speaks in diplomacy, especially in the age of cyber and space and true capabilities that exceed what we had seen during the time of World War II, if there's room for doubt, if there is space, Vladimir Putin will drive a truck through that gap. He will perceive any weakness.”

“We can't lead from behind, we have to be the leader, we should be flying weapons and systems into Ukraine every single day, making a demonstrable commitment to the …Ukrainian people who have demanded the simple thing to have their own sovereignty and democracy in our country," he asserted.

He also said it isn’t just Russia, China or North Korea scrutinizing America’s posture in the crisis.

“The whole world watches how America leads and when we fail to do so, we create instability and the cost, the risks to people in Iowa, Nevada, Kansas, my home state, are real,” he said.

“We have to get this right. We have to establish deterrence in the model of Reagan and the model that we had for our four years [under former President Donald Trump]. If we do that, America will be safe and secure and prosperous, the world will be more stable and we won't have so many of the challenges that are confronting us.”