Lieberman: Ukraine war will be decided on the battlefield, not by G7 leaders
Former Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman weighs in on the G7 leaders' plan to implement a Russian oil price cap in effort to end the war on ‘America Reports.’
Former Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman criticized the G7 leaders' plan to implement a Russian oil price cap as a misguided effort that will have little impact on Russian President Vladimir Putin, telling Fox News on Wednesday that the fate of the Ukraine war will depend solely on the aid and assistance provided by allies and neighboring countries to Ukrainian fighters on the battlefield.
"We are only going to help the Ukrainian people and hurt Putin and Russia if we are more aggressive on the battlefield on behalf of those brave Ukrainian freedom fighters," Lieberman said in an interview on "America Reports."
The Group of Seven economic powers is planning a continued commitment to supporting Ukraine, with the leaders set to agree to pursue a price cap on Russian oil, raise tariffs on Russian goods and impose new sanctions on officials supporting Russia's war on Ukraine. Lieberman said the proposed solutions may "hurt" the Russian leader, but they are not significant enough to discourage him from continuing with the war.
U.S. President Joe Biden, center, attends a working lunch with other G7 leaders to discuss shaping the global economy. (Kenny Holston/The New York Times via AP, Pool)
G-7 LEADERS SET TO PURSUE RUSSIAN OIL PRICE CAP, US TO SEND ANTI AIR MISSILE SYSTEM
"Putin has no hesitation to end-run those sanctions on him, and he’s gotten very good at it," Lieberman said. "And, there are buyers for his oil…the sanctions we have applied to Russia have hurt, but not enough and ultimately this is going to be decided on the battlefield."
"If we could — this is an unprecedented idea – if you can apply a cap to Russian oil, sure that would hurt them some. But it is not going to hurt them enough that they won’t be able to continue to fight this brutal war in Ukraine," Lieberman stressed
The G-7 leaders met in the German Alps and spoke virtually with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. During Monday's portion of the three-day annual summit, the leaders focused on Ukraine. Biden is prepared to announce that the U.S. is offering an advanced surface-to-air missile system and additional artillery support to Ukraine, according to a person familiar with the matter.
Russian President Vladimir Putin. (Alexander Demyanchuk, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)
Lieberman said he believes the U.S. should expedite the anti-missile system and should reconsider "some of the more aggressive steps that we could take to support them," such as imposing a no-fly zone to ban to protect the skies over Ukraine.
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"Look," he said. "I don’t want to be demeaning to the world leaders who met at the G-7. It’s easier to talk about applying economic sanctions.on Russia than it is giving more aggressive support to the European people. But ultimately this war is going to be decided on the battlefield and who wins matters not just to the Ukrainians but to all of Europe."
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