Nikki Haley, former United Nations ambassador for the U.S., slammed President Joe Biden 's leadership in the Ukraine conflict on...
Nikki Haley, former United Nations ambassador for the U.S., slammed President Joe Biden's leadership in the Ukraine conflict on Sunday and said it's 'absolute lunacy' the country continues to buy Russian oil after Vladimir Putin launched an invasion last month.
In an interview with FOX Business' Maria Bartiromo on Sunday Morning Futures, Haley said the United States never should have trusted Russia or Putin.
'This all happened because of us,' the former South Carolina governor said.
'This happened from the way the U.S. left Afghanistan,' she explained, saying the U.S. abandoned its allies.
'This happened when Biden waived Nord Stream 2, which President Trump fought,' Haley continued, referring to a Russian-owned pipeline that spans Europe.
'This happened by falling all over himself by getting the Iran deal,' she added.
'Now, we need strength and deterrence and we're not getting it.'
Instead, she said, it is time for the president to 'stop reacting and start leading.'
In an interview on Sunday morning, former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley slammed President Joe Biden for his leadership during the Ukraine crisis
Haley, right, told Maria Bartiromo, left, the president needs to provide Ukrainians with better intelligence and stop taking Russian oil money
She said that Biden's foreign policy decisions enabled Russian forces to invade the country and said it is time for him to 'stop reacting and start leading'
'First of all, work with Ukraine on real-time intelligence so that we can tell them everything that's happening that they can't see,' she suggested.
'Make sure that we are telling Poland and NATO that they've got to supply these planes to Ukraine. They need them right away so they can cover their own airspace.
'We've got to make sure that we sanction these energy companies, all of them.
'We've got to make sure that we pull them out of the international banking system, and we need to stop taking any Russian oil.
'The idea that we would give our money to an enemy is unthinkable and it's absolute lunacy,' Haley said. 'We can't allow this to continue.'
Bombings continued throughout Ukraine on Sunday. A factory and store are seen here burning after being bombarded in Irpin, on the outskirts of Kyiv
Her comments came just hours before U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced that the country is in talks with Poland in order to orchestrate a deal that would allow Polish fighter jets to be flown by pilots from the Ukrainian Air Force in order to combat Russia's air superiority.
The deal would see Ukraine take Poland's 28 Russian-made MiG-29 warplanes, which would in turn be replaced by a fresh set of F-16s by the United States.
Blinken told CBS's Face the Nation host Margaret Brennan: 'That gets the green light. In fact, we're talking with our Polish friends right now about what we might be able to backfill their needs if in fact they choose to provide these fighter jets to the Ukrainians. What can we do?
'How can we help to make sure that they get something to backfill the planes that they're handing over to the Ukrainians?'
The White House is now working out the practicalities of carrying out a deal, including the crucial question of how the Ukrainians would physically be able to get their hands on the planes.
'There are a number of challenging practical questions, including how the planes could actually be transferred from Poland to Ukraine.
'We are also working on the capabilities we could provide to backfill Poland if it decided to transfer planes to Ukraine,' a White House spokesperson told the Financial Times.
A mother and two children were killed and the father was wounded by a mortar shell as hundreds of civilians sought safety
A serviceman of the Ukrainian Military Forces stood next to a body following fighting against Russian troops. The United States is now brokering a deal with Ukraine and Poland to provide Ukrainians with fighter jets
Meanwhile, citizens are continuing to hide underground from the Russian artillery shelling as others try to escape the fighting
Meanwhile, Russia's Defense Ministry on Sunday warned countries, including NATO member Romania, against hosting Kyiv's military aircraft, saying they could end up being involved in an armed conflict.
Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said in a video briefing that some Ukrainian combat planes had redeployed to Romania and other Ukraine neighbors he did not identify.
He warned that if those warplanes attacked the Russian forces from the territory of those nations, it 'could be considered as those countries' engagement in the military conflict.'
Konashenkov said: 'We know for sure that Ukrainian combat aircraft have flown to Romania and other neighboring countries.
'The use of the airfield network of these countries for basing Ukrainian military aviation with the subsequent use of force against Russia's army can be regarded as the involvement of these states in an armed conflict.'
The spokesman also claimed that 'practically all' Ukraine's combat-ready aircraft had been destroyed as Russian troops continued to bombard the country with heavy gunfire and missiles.
Heartbreaking footage, taken in Irpin on Sunday on the outskirts of the capital city Kyiv, confirmed that Russian forces were attacking heavily populated civilian areas where men, women and children are leaving the country as the Russian tyrant continues denying bombing Ukrainian cities.
One image depicted a mother and her two children lying dead on the pavement after they were killed in Irpin as they tried to flee the city, while their father was wounded by a mortar shell as hundreds of civilians sought safety.
Another attempt to evacuate refugees from Mariupol was scuttled again today after the city was shelled just minutes into an agreed cease-fire.
Some 400,000 residents were hoped to be evacuated from 12 p.m. today, with an initial agreement in place until 9 p.m. local time, but residents are now having to take cover in bomb shelters without electricity and water.
Blinken now says there are 'very credible reports' that Russia has committed war crimes during its invasion.
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