Rep. Mace to Newsmax: I Agree That 'Putin Is a War Criminal'

Rep. Nancy Mace, while speaking against the actions of Russia against Ukraine, told Newsmax on Thursday that she also believes, like President Joe Biden, that Russian President Vladimir Putin is a war criminal.

Her comments on Newsmax's "National Report" come after President Joe Biden Wednesday told reporters at the White House that his Russian counterpart is a war criminal, drawing fire from Russia, which called Biden's comment "unacceptable and unforgivable rhetoric."

Mace, R-S.C., pointed out that there are millions of Ukrainians whose lives are at risk, and "they're being murdered every day. He is, Putin is, a war criminal."

The congresswoman also said she thinks Biden took "another step in the right direction" with his announcement that an additional $800 million in weapons is being sent to Ukraine for its defense against Russia, coming after Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's call to Congress earlier in the day for a no-fly space over his country and more military aid.

"There was not a dry eye in the House as we heard his pleas firsthand for more assistance," Mace said of Zelenskyy's conference. " I support President Biden and the $800 million package."

The Ukrainian people, she added, are fighting for the many things Americans take for granted, and with Zelenskyy, "it was emotional. It was distressing to see the video of women and children, moms being murdered."

Mace said she is heading to Poland on Friday with members of the House Oversight Committee to learn more about what is happening and how the region is being affected, "because these things are going to affect the United States."

"Everywhere I go in South Carolina, it is the only thing people want to talk about right now," said Mace.

Putin "projects what he's going to do next by accusing others of doing the same," and it "should be concerning" to everyone around the world when he lies about what the United States has in Ukraine, she added.

"We should believe him when he says that he will do anything at all costs, that he would have every Russian soldier put their life at risk to take over Ukraine," said Mace.

She also pointed out that there is not much talk about Ukraine's natural resources, but it would be "devastating, potentially for the world's economy" for Putin to get hold of them.

"They have 90% of the world's neon," she said. "They have nickel. They have lumber. They have natural resources."

However, Mace said she does not agree that filling Ukraine's wish for 27 former Soviet MiG jets will help the country defend itself.

"Only about half of those are actually operational, and with the size of Ukraine's airspace, half a dozen MiG jets aren't going to do anything" against Russia's S-400 surface-to-air missiles system, which are nearly as good as the U.S. Patriot missile system, said Mace.

"They can shut down anything down within 200 miles with that piece of equipment, and so unless you're an F-35 or you're going to invest billions of dollars in F-22s, there's no way around that, and those jets will very quickly be shot down," said Mace.

Further, she said there is not an "appetite" for the United States to get into war with Russia.

"We are shoring up our defense systems with our NATO allies … now Putin is talking like Hitler and talking about cleansing his country and cleansing neighboring countries," Mace concluded.

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