Democratic presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. told The Epoch Times on Monday that the Biden administration’s recent shift in supporting F-16s for Ukraine is a “dangerous escalation.”
President Joe Biden on Friday told G7 leaders at a summit in Japan that the United States will support a joint international effort to train Ukrainian pilots on F-16s, a move paving the way for providing the fighter jets to Ukraine. Biden has not yet decided if the United States will directly send the aircraft to the country, national security adviser Jake Sullivan said on Sunday.
Biden’s Democratic contender Kennedy strongly rebuked the move, saying the United States continues to waste money in an effort that is counterproductive to the people of Ukraine.
“We must stop using Ukraine as a geopolitical pawn,” Kennedy told The Epoch Times. “[Biden should] negotiate a swift end to this war that is hemorrhaging Ukrainian blood and American treasure.”
Responding to accusations that the move is escalatory, Biden said he received a “flat assurance” from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy that F-16s will not be used on Russian territory.
The assurances come ahead of an insurgency into Russia’s Belgorod region, apparently by Ukraine-aligned militias, with online imagery showing Maxxpro 1224 mine-resistant humvees, vehicles the United States has provided to Ukraine. Moscow claimed on Tuesday to have repelled the attack.
Meanwhile, the State Department said it was “skeptical” of reports that U.S.-provided weapons to Ukraine were used in the attack.
U.S. President Joe Biden meets with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the Ukrainian presidential palace in Kyiv, on Feb. 20, 2023. Ukrainian Presidential Press Office via Getty Images
Kennedy Son and Ukraine
Asked about his son, Conor, who last year volunteered to fight with Ukrainian special forces, Kennedy said that he has since returned home safe and sound.In the summer of 2022, Conor Kennedy volunteered to join the Ukrainian military, spending several months as a machine gunner within a Ukrainian special forces unit based in Kharkiv. Motivated by strong disdain for Russian President Vladimir Putin and his firm stance against the invasion, the younger Kennedy placed himself in harm’s way, but his views on the war are diametrically opposed to those of his father.
“I argued with him a lot about Ukraine, and he felt like [he] shouldn’t be arguing for it and letting other people fight the war.”
On Saturday, Kennedy opened up about the experience while speaking with another figure rumored to soon put forth a presidential bid, comedian Dave Smith, a Libertarian. On an episode of Smith’s “Part of the Problem” podcast, Kennedy revealed that Conor’s girlfriend at the time “knew what he was doing but didn’t tell us.”
Highlighting Conor’s lack of prior military experience, Kennedy revealed how his son’s persuasive abilities enabled him to join a special forces unit, despite the absence of formal training. Kennedy recounted the worry he felt regarding his son’s secrecy at the time.
He said Conor told him in the spring of 2022, “‘I’m doing something and, Dad, I don’t want you to ask me what I’m doing.’ Then he disappeared.”
Ukrainian tanks move in the direction of Bakhmut, in the Donetsk region, on March 20, 2023. Aris Messinis/AFP via Getty Images
Conor altered his summer plans, which initially included working at a prominent Los Angeles law firm and living with his father. When asked about his start date at the law job, Conor evaded the question. The last transactions traced Conor’s path from Poland to Ukraine before the trail vanished altogether.
Conor has since returned safely, publicly disclosing his journey on his Instagram page back in October.
“This war, like all others, is horrific,” the post read. “Every day, someone there sacrifices everything for a lasting peace.” After his return, Conor continues to back U.S. support for Kiev in its battle against Russia.
RFK Jr. on the War
Kennedy expressed pride for his son’s “humanitarian” effort and “compassion for the Ukrainian people” but believes that Conor became swept up in a western narrative that did not accurately reflect the reality of the war nor the Biden administration’s reasons for funding it.“He was motivated for the same reason that they take advantage of all Americans,” Kennedy said. “But then, it starts looking a lot less like a humanitarian mission. Every choice we make is about prolonging the war.”
“Biden comes out and says, ‘what we’re doing over there is actually regime change against Putin,’” he added.
Near the start of the war in March 2022, President Biden gave a speech in Poland during which he said the Russian president “cannot remain in power,” comments Biden later retracted and attributed to his “moral outrage.”
President Joe Biden delivers a speech at the Royal Castle in Warsaw, Poland, on March 26, 2022. Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images
Kennedy went on to criticize other high-level Biden officials, saying their rhetoric reveals the true motivations for U.S. support for the war.
“The Secretary of Defense [Lloyd Austin] says, ‘our purpose over there is to degrade the Russian army and exhaust its capacity to fight anywhere else in the world.’ That’s the opposite of humanitarian,” Kennedy said. “That is a war of attrition. And who is getting killed? It’s the Ukrainians.”
“We were tricked. This is not a humanitarian war.”
Kennedy largely blamed “neoconservatives” for the current conflict in Eastern Europe, alluding to past wars in the Middle East and saying U.S. interventionist policy went awry in both regions.
“We have turned Ukraine into a pawn, and these geopolitical machinations that have created this proxy war between two great powers are grinding this poor little nation to dust in between them,” he said.
“Ukraine will be lucky if it comes out as a country even at this point.”
