- Rep. Adam Smith said a surge of additional US equipment to Ukraine would not reach it in time to ward off Russia's advances.
- Smith, the chair of a powerful congressional panel, said the US should prepare to support a Ukrainian insurgency.
- The Biden administration has sent over $650 million worth of weapons and other gear to Ukraine in the past year.
Rep. Adam Smith, the chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, ruled out surging supplies into Ukraine as a last-ditch effort to stall Russia's invasion, arguing it's unlikely such support would arrive quickly enough to make a difference.
"The odd of us being able to do that in a rapid enough fashion to be able to repel the invasion are remote," Smith told CNN on Thursday when asked about a Ukrainian official's request for more equipment. "I don't think it's realistic to think that we can reinforce them enough in the short term to be able to repel the invasion."
Instead, Smith, a Democrat from Washington State, argued the US should prepare to support a Ukrainian resistance. He added that America's two-decade long war in Afghanistan shows what happens when an overwhelming military force is met with an organized insurgency.
"Even if you can overwhelm a country with force, if that country is unwilling to accept the fact that they have been taken over, a very strong insurgency can be built," Smith said.
Russian troops launched airstrikes on the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv and other key cities on Thursday, unleashing what many Western officials are calling Europe's worst conflict since the end of WWII.
NPR previously reported that the Biden administration has sent $650 million in defense equipment and services to Ukraine in the past year. In January, the State Department signed off on Latvia, Estonia, and Lithuania sending anti-armor missiles and other US-made weapons to Ukraine, Politico reported.