00:00Melinda, welcome back. And we have a lot we want to discuss with you in terms of the actual conflict
00:05in Ukraine. But I would wonder your take first on the legacy of the late Senator Lindsey Graham
00:10and what he meant for Ukraine, for Ukrainian leadership, given his relationship with
00:15Vladimir Zelensky and how he possibly via the sanctions bill that he helped author and
00:21negotiate around and push forward could alter the course of this war.
00:27Thanks for having me back on. So I think Senator Graham would be delighted today.
00:31He went to Ukraine 10 times since the war started. His last trip was to Ukraine. His heart was in
00:38Kiev. He had a close relationship with Volodymyr Zelensky. And I think it's important to say that
00:43Lindsey Graham wasn't just focused on Ukraine. He cared about free people around the world. So he
00:48had a heartbeat for the struggle for global freedom. But Ukraine was very, very special to him. And we
00:54see his death has released a lot of energy. There's a strong desire to do something to honor his hard
01:02work. There's been a desire to pass another bill that would sanction Russia. And it's named after
01:07the late Senator. And it looks like that's going to pass on Capitol Hill today.
01:11So what's that going to mean? Melinda, welcome back. I just wonder the impact of that sanctions bill
01:18passing because it does appear to be on a glide slope here. Whether or not it receives a unanimous
01:24consent agreement is another matter. But the president's going to have some new tools here.
01:28There are questions about the extent to which he will use them. What do you believe?
01:32Right. Joe, so there is a question about whether he will use them, how good they are. They're not a
01:3810.
01:39I'm not going to come on here and look you in the eye and say that the bill's fabulous,
01:42but it's a lot better than nothing. So remember, this is an administration that has done nothing
01:46on Ukraine since it came back to office. So this is fantastic. But I think more significantly,
01:51it will unlock the EU and push the EU to release its next package of sanctions. That's why it's
01:57significant. I see. Well, so then when we consider the significance of the decision making that this
02:05will force Vladimir Putin into Melinda, if at all, if not, even if it is just a symbol that the
02:12US is
02:12willing to stand by Ukraine in a more firm matter than it perhaps, to your point, has so far
02:17during this administration, where would you be looking for signs that it is starting to affect
02:22the behavior of the Kremlin and the way in which Putin is conducting himself as this war continues?
02:29Great question. So it's not a great day in Moscow. There's a lot of things that are bothering
02:34Vladimir Putin right now. The first thing that's bothering him are Ukraine's long-range strikes.
02:40Ukraine is getting better at hitting oil refineries. It is causing the prices to go up.
02:46It's causing fear in people. There's elite fights within Moscow between the inner circle around Putin.
02:56So things are not rosy in Moscow, and he has upcoming elections. He also doesn't have enough
03:01people. We're seeing pictures of all the heads of state in Washington, and the Finnish president is here,
03:06and he's been very, very clear that Russia has a math problem. So Russia does not have enough
03:12soldiers to continue this war, and Putin cannot engage in a big mobilization or he has a political
03:18problem. Right now, the ratio is every five soldiers that are killed on the Russian side,
03:23one Ukrainian soldier is killed. So things are not rosy in Moscow, and I don't think people realize
03:30that Putin is actually in a bit of a pinch right now.
03:35Pretty big score for Zelensky on his way over to the United States. He stopped by the UK
03:43and posted from the Portsmouth Naval Base in the United Kingdom that the UK has decided to share what
03:50they call its stone cloak technology. That's a system that jams Russian air defense systems,
03:57to your point, allowing Ukraine to go deeper into Russian territory. And it begs the question,
04:02Melinda, the extent to which Ukraine is relying on the United States as opposed to its European
04:08partners. So, Joe, great question. Since Trump has come back into office, the United States has not
04:15given any more military aid. It has delivered some military aid that the Biden administration arranged,
04:21but it hasn't given anything new. So we've been sitting on our hands since Trump came back into
04:26office. However, the US is still providing intel support, and that's a really big deal. The Ukrainians
04:34rely on that intel support for these long-range strikes. So that has to continue in order for
04:40Ukraine to prosecute the war. So the intel support, the licensing of Patriot missiles, which we know
04:47were discussed today. Melinda, what else does Ukraine then need from the United States?
04:54So we really need to see the United States go and put another assistance bill into place. The United
05:01States hasn't given a large amount of money to Ukraine since 2024. It was April 2024. Ukraine needs
05:08more funds in order to keep the war in place. But its most immediate need is air defense. So just
05:14in the
05:14month of July, the New York Times calculated how many ballistic missiles have been sent into Ukraine.
05:19It's 117. And they don't have enough Patriots. Patriots are the only things that can down
05:25these ballistic missiles. And just to remind your viewers, ballistic missiles are hitting schools,
05:30churches, and ordinary citizens. And we're seeing the number of civilians at an all-time high this
05:35month as a result of that increased pressure with these ballistic rockets in Ukraine.
05:40Wow. Missiles for the Patriots are needed literally every day. The quote from Zelensky in a post on
05:47X. Melinda, to your point, he was talking with the Finnish president, Alexander Stube, also here for
05:55the services today, where they discussed the prospect of diplomacy. Zelensky suggesting that
06:01important meetings for next month are being prepared. What's he talking about?
06:06So what he's talking about is there's going to be a renewed effort to bring a peace agreement
06:11to the war in Ukraine, finally. And I think we're going to see Witkoff and Kushner come to Kiev.
06:17So they have been invited multiple times. They refuse to go. Witkoff in particular doesn't want to go
06:23because, Joe, there are no airports that work in Ukraine. You have to fly into Warsaw or fly into
06:29Moldova and then take a car or a train. And it's very uncomfortable. And Witkoff's not a young man.
06:34So General Kellogg used to make this trip all the time. But our chief negotiators on Ukraine haven't
06:41been to the country. That's a big problem. So I think out of this meeting, it was a very good
06:44meeting in the Oval Office. We see Zelensky and Trump, warm smiles, shaking hands. And it feels like
06:51we're back in a good place. But I think we're going to see more emphasis on negotiations. And I think
06:56the
06:57president is going to send his chief negotiators there. And I think the Laura Loomer visit definitely
07:02helped with that. But that wasn't the only thing that has set us in this place.
07:07Yeah. Laura Loomer now on the side of Ukraine is one of the more remarkable political
07:13evolutions that we've witnessed as of late. Melinda, I also want to ask you, you mentioned
07:18how it's not a great day in Moscow that Putin is facing difficulties domestically. I wonder if we
07:23should be considering what domestic pressures President Zelensky is also facing. He fired his
07:28popular defense minister. There's been turnover in Ukraine's military leadership. What is the
07:33impact of that?
07:36Great question. Yes. So last week, there was big news in Kiev. The very popular defense
07:41minister, his name is Mikhailo Fedorov. And he's 35 years old. He's been in office since 2019.
07:47He's been promoted, promoted, promoted. He's a rock star. He's responsible for Ukraine's transformation.
07:53So if you take your phone, you can register your baby online. You can get married and divorced
07:58online in Ukraine. It's even better and faster than Estonia. And it's because of this defense
08:03minister. So he's fabulous. And no one understands why he was fired. So Zelensky didn't really answer
08:11the question. And there have been protests across the country. He's a nerd. I know him. He's not
08:17someone who toots his own horn. He doesn't speak English. He's from the sticks of Zaporizhia. He's
08:22from occupied Ukraine. But his numbers, his trust numbers were growing. And Zelensky doesn't like to
08:28be overshadowed. We've seen this movie over and over again. You know, it happened with his commander
08:34in chief with Zalushni. And he sent Zalushni to London. But he got rid of Fedorov because there was
08:39a real conflict between the minister of defense, Fedorov, and the commander in chief, Sierski. Sierski
08:44was old school. He was in his 60s. They called him a dinosaur. They called him the butcher of
08:48Kiev. He wanted to mobilize as many people in fight in sort of old Soviet tactics. And Fedorov
08:55wanted to use technology. And he wanted to revolutionize the armed forces. And the two
09:00of these guys couldn't communicate. And Zelensky said that he had to be in the room in order to
09:04get them to communicate. So Zelensky's defense is, I don't have time for this. I had to fix this
09:11problem. Sierski, the commander in chief has been fired. Fedorov is no longer part of the
09:16government. And they're still negotiating, but there's still protests. So watch this face.
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