John Kirby, the coordinator for strategic communications at the National Security Council, defended the White House for not yet sending long-range missiles to Ukraine on Fox News on Wednesday.
A group of Republican senators asked President Biden in a letter earlier this week to send MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS) to Ukraine, arguing it would help win its war against Russia. On “America’s Newsroom,” hosts Dana Perino and Bill Hemmer pressed Kirby as to why the U.S. has not sent the missiles.
“We are still, and the president has said this, we’re still in discussions about the ATACMS,” Kirby said. “So they have not been taken off the table.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is visiting the U.S. this week, and he will meet with key U.S. leaders, including Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.). McCarthy has expressed reservations about more funding for Ukraine, saying he wants to ask the Ukrainian president questions about where U.S. money is going and how the Ukrainians plan to win the war.
“Where’s the accountability on the money we already spent?” McCarthy said, listing off questions he said he will ask the Ukrainian leader Thursday. “What is the plan for victory?”
Perino then noted the slow pace of the war and said it felt like the Ukranians were losing. Kirby pushed back, saying the U.S. and “the rest of the world very much is there to help them.”
“Why not help them more?” Perino questioned as the conversation went on.
“We are helping them more,” Kirby responded.