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You're seeing the president's frustration and disappointment, frankly, with Putin. He has made innumerable Pauls, we had the summits in Saudi Arabia, in Turkey, in Alaska, obviously. And look, at the end of the day, Putin has to end this war. The president has made it very clear his intent. And what you're seeing now is you're seeing.
With the President's urging, you're seeing Europe increasingly stepping up. They're now committing 5% of their GDP, which for years it was not only, it wasn't even just half, it was just a third that was meeting the bare minimum of 2%.
So they're stepping up, they're buying our weapons, they're taking more responsibility for their security, and eventually one way or another, Putin's going to get the message. And one other point, Brian, that I think is that we have to hammer, and the president hammered home in his speech yesterday. Europe can't be buying Russian oil and gas at the same time they're demanding help to fight this war. Right. And I think they got that message.
Let's hope. Daniel Bilak joins us now from Ukraine, member of the Territorial Defense Forces of Ukraine, former Chief Investment Advisor to the Prime Minister. Daniel, your thoughts about what Michael Waltz said as the new ambassador to the United Nations? Yeah, Brian, thanks. No, I think he's right on.
You know, this is everybody thought that President Trump was going to throw us under the bus. And I always tell people: you know, don't listen to what he says, see what he does. And I really hope that the actions actually uh match the rhetoric of uh of this week. I mean, this is This is a very significant statement by the President. And you know, we at the same time, he was he was really putting putting it on Europe and NATO.
uh to uh to to take the lead on this, which is fine, but the you know, United States is uh is is really the biggest part of NATO. And we still really need the United States in this game. No doubt about it. The President made it clear yesterday that he's got his change of strategy. After meeting with President Zelensky and getting into great detail, I had a chance to talk to President Zelensky for the first time yesterday, one-on-one after his interview with Brett.
Was in our building, and he kind of backed this up. He said they had a very substantive meeting. He was asking specific questions: How many drones are they sending? How many do you need? Where are they located?
He could, and they were, he had his whole team zeroed in. And then he put this Truth Social up, says the economic situation, he goes. After getting to know fully and understand the Ukraine-Russia military and economic situation, after seeing the economic trouble it is causing Russia, I think Ukraine, with the support of the EU, is in a position to fight and win all of Ukraine back in the original form. With time and patience in the financial support of Europe, in particular NATO, the original borders from where the war started is very much an option. Russia has been fighting aimlessly for three and a half years, a war that should never have taken place.
A real military power, less than a week to would have taken a real military power less than a week to win. You guys aren't going to get beat by anybody. But you guys have fought, and you've really, he's never said anything bad about the way you guys fight. But I think he was dismissive about the possibility of being successful.
Now he's not. How do you feel, Dan?
Well, Brian, you know, you've been great to have me on your show since March of 2022. If there's one consistent message that I've made is that this war is winnable. You know, Russia is a paper tiger. And now we see we're starting to see more and more the mainstream media and media in general talking about the fact that Russia's got big, big problems. economically.
And it's great that we are able to buy American kit. The Europeans are buying it for us. It's actually helping the American economy. But much more than that, we really have been able to take it to them largely through tech our technical our technological Development. You know, we've been developing at a blistering pace, Brian.
You know, we're iterating. three, four generations of Of technological advancement in very short order, like within six months. Even in the United States, I was talking to a former U.S. Major General, and he says his assessment after being in Ukraine was that the U.S. is three years.
Behind Ukraine in this technological advancement. As I've said many, many times, we win when we fight asymmetrically. We will never win against Russia on a force-on-force. Basis. There's just too many of them.
But we have held the lines being outgunned and outmanned. largely through uh through tech. And, you know, I see it even in my own unit and my own battalion where I serve in the Territorial Defense Forces. You know, at the beginning of the war. We were hunting for sabotage reconnaissance groups.
you know, with rifles and then we started learning how to use endlaws and javelins to hit tanks. And and now, frankly, you know, I'm I don't know what to do because it's all drones and the people in my unit are now 18, 20 year olds. And um You know, they they know how to use this stuff. And that's what's making the big difference. But it comes back to US leadership as well.
You know, where if President Trump wants to really help us, Uh and he has been by emphasizing uh cutting off Russian oil and gas imports into the EU. But we really need the Americans and your people to get behind further sanctions on Russia. This war started in Russia and it will end in Russia. But you guys are hitting the energy sector. You're hitting the refineries and that is really making a difference with long lines at the gas stations.
And I'm sure, according to reports, the winter's coming. And uh Russia's got a brutal winter.
So is that there's been a strategy to your attacks in Russia? one hundred percent. We in the last three weeks, Brian, we've taken out over twenty percent of Russia's oil and oil refining capacity. I mean, that's huge. And we need more sanctions on this shadow fleet that they have.
Um you know, taking on Indians India and uh and and putting pressure on Turkey and others that are that are that are buying cheap uh Russian oil and then reselling it, they're arbitraging it. Um basically It it continues to support uh the Russian uh killing machine. And, you know, if the United States was to put further sanctions on Russia, we could end this war much, much faster.
So, when no one has to tell you that they breached Estonia's airspace, Romania's airspace, Poland's airspace, and now Belgium's. And it looks like they stopped air traffic in Belgium because of the drones incursions. The president was asked directly yesterday: what advice do you give NATO allies? Would you say to shoot down Russian drones and aircraft that they breached space? He said, Yes.
Here's what Ambassador Walsh said to me today: cut 55. We talked about this in my first Security Council meeting, which was just Monday, that the Estonians called. And between the violations of Romanian airspace, Polish airspace, and now Estonian airspace, look, I think Putin, the Russians, should take the message from the president. He's not messing around. He's incredibly serious.
The Iranians learned painfully that he will use sticks as well as carrots. Will you bring that message to the Russian ambassador in the UN? We just brought that message with the Russians present just yesterday.
So, I just wanted to bring you up to date, Dan. I'm hoping the circle closes. Yeah, absolutely. And you know, I think the point you just made, Brian, goes to the heart of the matter is that. This is not Ukraine's war against Russia.
This is Russia's war against the West's. NATO, the United States. This is the rhetoric that comes out of Russia, the propaganda that they're spewing out to their people. And the West needs to understand that they're at war with Russia. through Russia's waging a hybrid war against the West.
Through disinformation, through sabotage, and if nobody stands up to them, they're just going to keep pushing. That's what dictators do. You know, uh someone said that, you know, uh appeasement is uh is giving in to the uh to the aggressor uh hoping like uh feeding a crocodile, hoping you're gonna be the last one to be eaten. And this we need our allies to really get behind us. and continue supporting us the way they have been, but really hitting Russia economically.
It is very, very weak. And he's on talk and the thing is too, Brian, that that Putin can't stop this war now. He can't stop. He's so far in, his entire economy is on war footing. All his people are behind it because they're terrified of what's going to happen if they lose.
And the keys to the kingdom, the keys to peace. In Europe, they are to defeat the Russian army in Ukraine, and they are eminently defeatable. They don't really have a ground army, they just have masses of meat that they throw at our front lines. And you know, it in 1917, at the end of World War I, Russia had 4 million men under arms and the Russian army collapsed. The soldiers just said, We're done with this.
They shot their officers, they threw down their rifles, and they went home. And this this can this can be repeated. Things happen in war. And you know, the thing is, too, the Russians came back and said we're not a paper tiger, we're a bear, and had a sarcastic comment. But when they realize that the president's not talking, Maybe not even taking Putin's call, I imagine.
And then, if they start moving with some offensive, some really painful sanctions, and they make it clear that weapons are going to start flooding in again. And the president got his back. He said, I can't wait. You know, listen, we're 37 trillion in debt. We got a great economy, but there's no way our books are balancing.
So at home, the president's got an audience that says we're going to focus at home. And when NATO stepped up and says, we'll buy it from you and we're giving it to Ukraine, then the president's thoroughly covered. We'll make it, you'll buy it, you'll use it, you'll build up your own defense, and it works.
So that when it becomes clear to the Russians that we're in, that they're not going to manipulate Trump if they ever were. I think that that could really get a frustration. Inside the Russian forces, at least I hope. Dave Ignatius, you know the Washington Post is not a fan of any Republican, or certainly not the President. Dave Ignatius said this yesterday, Cut 19.
I'd say there's hope, there's not yet confidence. That's the question that I'm seeing in my messages overnight. There's a fear that, as the Russian Deputy Ambassador to the United Nations said yesterday, don't get too excited about one tweet. Or in this case, one true social post. I mean, that's not a change in policy.
Truly execute a change in policy that would allow Ukraine to win, to take back territory. There'll have to be significant changes in how the U.S. and Europe supply weapons, the nature of the weapons that they supply. Those are all questions for the future. But you could see in the series of statements from Trump his frustration, his anger, and his sense that Vladimir Putin, in addition to insulting him in his mind, also can be had, is weak enough that he can be rolled.
So the president's got his own personal reputation on the line. He feels it. And I think his wife is a big advocate for Ukraine. Yeah, the the First Lady has been front and center on this, especially on the on the issue of the genocide against Ukrainian children. You know, you n you've been you've been really great on this, Brian, talking about the 20,000 kids that were kidnapped from their families in in Ukraine and taken uh and put up for adoption in in Russia.
I mean, it's just just horrific. But you know, it comes back to the same point that we can win this war. And we are taking back territory. Russia launched this big You know, about this big highly publicized counteroffensive this summer and ended up taking a couple hundred. kilometers of territory that we are now taking back.
They've teetered out. We're taking back some of the territory that they took this summer. We're pushing them back. And it comes back to the point this war is winnable. Lastly, you know the biggest army in Europe is Russia.
You know who the second biggest is? Oh, yeah. I mean, Ukraine, for sure. Yeah.
So we have, yes. We have a larger army than the next four European armies put together. Exactly. And anyone who thinks. that this doesn't matter to America.
Do you want to let Russia absorb Ukraine and that fighting force that you have? uh the finest fighting force uh in in Europe. Why would you so if anyone says, Well, what do we care? I've never been to Ukraine. If you're listening to us around the country, understand that this does affect us directly.
And you have to be thinking very small not to understand that. Daniel, thanks so much. Best of luck that this truth social is followed by more and more action. Thanks, Brian. God bless the people of the United States.
Thank you for your support. You got it. Back in a moment. You're with Brian Kilmead. This is Jimmy Fala, inviting you to join me for Fox Across America, where we'll discuss every single one of the Democrats' dumb ideas.
Just kidding, it's only a three-hour show. Listen live at Noon Eastern or get the podcast at foxacrossamerica.com. Mm.
