Video: Sen. Mark Warner Says Ukrainian President Zelenskyy “has been Churchillian in his response,” While Putin Is “an isolated, authoritarian leader”

Sen. Mark Warner – Chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee – is chatting with the Washington Post about the Russian assault on Ukraine. See below for video and highlights.

• “What I think we’ve seen play out…over the last few weeks is that the people of Ukraine are being attacked simply because they wanted to stand with the West, because they embrace those democratic values…that macro question of democracy vs. authoritarianism – at least the people of Ukraine and President Zelenskyy has answered that resolution…So far [Zelenskyy] has been Churchillian in his response.”
• “On the ground, how long can the Ukrainians resist is a bit of an open question…This conflict is by no means over, and the overwhelming power of the Russian military in a longer struggle, it’s hard to not see how they don’t continue to make some more advances.”
• The Russian forces “have done absolutely worse than what the world expected…Zelelnskyy once again bested Putin at his game of information warfare…we’ve seen the Ukrainian people step up…[Putin] felt he could march right in and repeat Crimea…Every image of Putin is he’s sitting at one end of the table…This is an isolated, authoritarian leader.”
• “Obviously as chairman of the Senate Intelligence committee, I’m not going to comment on any specific intelligence. But these images [of Putin sitting at the end of a long table] speak for themselves. The image of meeting with foreign leaders or with his own leaders, removed…whether this is COVID phobic or the fact of 20 years in power as an unquestioned authoritarian, more and more removal, he’s stayed in Sochi or he’s been at his dacha outside of Moscow…”
• On Putin putting Russian nuclear forces on alert, Sen. Warner said “in the public reporting…there’s no indication that he has significantly moved up that alert status or deployed further activities in Belarus…Continuing to send signals to the Russian military and leadership that there is no intention by the United States or NATO to escalate – we actually want to deescalate – is the right tack at this point.”
• On Russian protests against the attack on Ukraine, Sen. Warner said he doesn’t think there’s “any immediate threat to this regime,” but “in an information age, this can get out of hand quickly.”
• “Regarding the U.S.’s reaction to Russia’s movements into Ukraine @MarkWarner says ‘…here, the administration has gotten it right.'”
• “Senator @MarkWarner thinks we will ‘absolutely’ see more cyber activity coming out of Russia in the coming days and weeks.”
• “We should be prepared for A-level cyberattacks,” says @MarkWarner on #PostLive”
• “I absolutely believe that a cyberattack could constitute an Article V violation.”