NEIL: ALL RIGHT, WELL IF YOU
CAN’T BEAT THEM ON THE FIELD HOW
ABOUT STARVING THEM AND MAKING
NEXT TO IMPOSSIBLE YOU GET THEIR
HANDS-ON WATER, BEING A LITTLE
BIT OVER-GENEROUS TO SAY THE
FACT OF THE MATTER IS
VLADIMIR PUTIN IS COMING UP WITH
A WHOLE NUMBER OF SCHEMES TO
KEEP THE CRUELTY GOING.
CERTAINLY IN UKRAINE BY BACKING
OUT OF THE BLACK SEA AGREEMENT
WHEREAS WHEAT PRICES THEN AS A
RESULT IMMEDIATELY STARTED
SOARING, AND EVERYTHING BECOMES
MORE EXPENSIVE IN UKRAINE.
BY THE WAY EVERYTHING BECOMES
MORE EXPENSIVE WORLDWIDE BUT
THIS ON THE HEELS OF MAKING IT
DIFFICULT FOR EIGHT OUT OF 10
UKRAINIANS TO GET THEIR HANDS-ON
WATER, AT LEAST MAKING IT MORE
DIFFICULT.
GENERAL JACK KEANE ON ALL OF
THESE DEVELOPMENTS.
GENERAL, NOW WE’RE INTO THE
CRAZY BRUTALITY SPHERE THAT
NOTHING NEW, AS YOU REMINDED ME
MANY TIMES, BUT THIS IS SCARY
STUFF.
WHAT DO YOU MAKE OF IT?
>> YEAH, WELL, CERTAINLY WHAT’S
MOTIVATING PUTIN HERE IS THAT
HE’S LOSING THE WAR ON THE
GROUND AND WE’VE KNOWN THAT
FOR A NUMBER OF WEEKS AS
UKRAINIANS HAVE RETAKEN
TERRITORY THAT THE RUSSIANS HAD
EITHER OCCUPIED OR HAD TAKEN
THEMSELVES EARLY IN THE INVASION
, AND THEY CHOSEN
THIS OTHER COURSE OF ACTION TO
COMPLEMENT THAT IS TO AS MUCH AS
POSSIBLE DEFEAT THE WILL OF
THE UKRAINIAN PEOPLE SO AS YOU
MENTIONED, THEY ARE STRIKING THE
ELECTRIC GRID AND WATER
SUPPLY FOR OBVIOUS REASONS TO
SHUT THE POWER OFF AND ALSO
EFFECTED DISTRIBUTION OF WATER
AND SEWAGE AND BRING REAL HARM
TO THE UKRAINIANS IN HOPING THAT
IT WILL BREAK THEIR WILL.
THERE WILL BE SOMETHING OF A
HUMANITARIAN CRISIS AS A RESULT
OF IT BUT I DON’T BELIEVE IT
WILL BREAK THEIR WILL, IF
ANYTHING, IT’LL INCREASE THEIR
RESOLVE AND THEN THE SECOND
THING THAT YOU MENTIONED, THIS
IS LIKELY A RESPONSE IN
BREAKING THE BLACK SEA GRAIN
AGREEMENT WHERE GRAIN WAS
ALLOWED TO BE EXPORTED OUT OF
UKRAINE AND IT IS THEIR MAJOR
COMMODITIES THAT THEY DO EXPORT
AND THEY EXPORT TO EUROPE, ASIA,
AND AFRICA AND IT’S A
SIGNIFICANT WORLD FOOD SUPPLY
THAT THE UKRAINIANS ARE
PROVIDING, BUT HIS MOTIVATION, I
THINK, CAME AS A RESULT OF THE
UKRAINIANS CONDUCTING AN
ATTACK THIS LAST WEEKEND ON
THE RUSSIANS NAVAL BASE AND FOR
OUR AUDIENCE TO UNDERSTAND,
THE UKRAINIANS ARE LEGITIMATELY
DOING THAT BECAUSE THOSE SHIFTS
THAT ARE THERE, THEY ARE PART
OFTEN SEMITISM BELL THAT IS
FIRING MISSILES AT THE VERY
THING WE’RE TALKING ABOUT.
THE ENERGY INFRASTRUCTURE INSIDE
OF UKRAINE, SO I’M HOPING THAT
THIS SHUTTING DOWN OF THE BLACK
SEA AGREEMENT IS ONLY TEMPORARY
BUT I’M NOT SURPRISED ITS TAKEN
PLACE.
I THOUGHT THE SHOE WOULD DROP BY
PUTIN AT SOME POINT, BECAUSE HE
KNOWS THAT HE CAN REALLY HURT
THE UKRAINIANS BY STOPPING THE
SHIFTS AND THE SECOND THING
HE WANTS IS TO HURT THE
COUNTRIES IN THE WORLD SO
THAT THEY PUT PRESSURE ON OTHER
COUNTRIES NOT TO CONTINUE TO
SUPPORT UKRAINE SO AGGRESSIVELY.
THAT’S KIND OF PUTIN’S
MOTIVATION HERE, NEIL.
NEIL: YOU KNOW, GENERAL, THIS
COMES AT A TIME, NBC
REPORTED, GOT A LOT OF PLAY OVER
THE WEEK AND I’M SURE YOU’RE
FAMILIAR WITH JOE BIDEN
APPARENTLY LOST HIS TEMPER I
THINK THIS GOES BACK TO JUNE,
SIR, OVER PRESIDENT ZELENSKYY’S
IN PATIENCE WITH THE AID AND HOW
IT WAS STREAMING ALONG RIGHT
AFTER $1 BILLION AID PACKAGE WAS
DONE.
ACCORDING TO NBC, BIDEN HAD
BARELY FINISHED TELLING
ZELENSKYY HE HAD GREEN-LIGHTED
ANOTHER 1 BILLION IN MILITARY
ASSISTANCE IN HIS FIGHT AGAINST
RUSSIA’S INVASION WHEN ZELENSKYY
STARTED LISTING ALL OF THE
ADDITIONAL HELP HE NEEDED
AND WASN’T GETTING.
BIDEN LOST HIS TEMPER.
I DON’T WANT TO GET INTO THE
BACK AND FORTH ON THAT BUT
YOU MIGHT HAVE HEARD THIS BEFORE
WHAT DO YOU MAKE OF IT?
>> YEAH, WELL I THINK WE’VE
SEEN PUBLICLY "OUR BODIES,
OURSELVES" WHEN SOMEBODY POKES
AT PRESIDENT BIDEN, HE HAS A
QUICK FUSE AND A TENDENCY TO
JUMP RIGHT BACK AT THEM, AND I
THINK WHAT HAPPENED HERE AS BEST
I UNDERSTAND IT, YOU KNOW, HE
WAS GOING THROUGH THE LIST OF
THINGS HE WAS PROVIDING TO
ZELENSKYY AND THEN ZELENSKYY RET
ORT WAS TO COME BACK AT HIM
WITH ANOTHER LIST AND THAT’S
WHERE THE FRUSTRATION IS AND I
THINK HE WENT AFTER ZELENSKYY
OVER THAT ISSUE.
NOW ZELENSKYY KNOWS THIS IS THE
HAND THAT’S FEEDING HIM,
NEIL, SO LATER IN THAT SAME DAY,
ZELENSKYY ISSUED A VERY PUBLIC
COMMENT THAT HOW MUCH HE
APPRECIATED PRESIDENT BIDEN AND
THE SUPPORT FROM THE UNITED
STATES, TO MAKE CERTAIN THAT
THERE WAS NO HARD FEELINGS AS A
RESULT OF WHAT IT WAS TAKING
PLACE THERE.
HE KNOWS THAT HE NEEDS THE
UNITED STATES SUPPORT TO
CONTINUE WHAT HE’S DOING.
NEIL: BUT AS YOU HAD INDICATED
IN MANY PRIOR INTERVIEWS,
GENERAL, HE NEEDS IT FAST AND HE
NEEDS A LOT OF IT THAT IS
PRESIDENT ZELENSKYY SO HE’S
SHOWING PROPER FRUSTRATION IN A
COUNTRY QUITE LITERALLY UNDER
ATTACK BY A SUPER-POWER NO LESS.
YOU THINK THINGS HAVE CALMED
DOWN BECAUSE WE HAVE BEEN PAYING
THE LIONS SHARE OF THIS AND WE
CONTINUE TO.
IN FACT WE’RE PAYING MORE THAN
EVER.
>> YEAH, WELL OF COURSE, WE HAD
THE GREATEST AMOUNT OF
CAPABILITY TO DO THAT BY
COMPARISON TO THE OTHER
COUNTRIES.
SOME OF THESE MILITARIES IN
EUROPE ARE JUST, THEY ARE A MERE
SHADOW OF THE FORMER SELF.
THEY WOULD STAND UP MILITARIES
TO EVEN INCLUDE THE UK DURING
THE COLD WAR BUT THEY HAVE
DISMEMBERED THEMSELVES AND CUT
DOWN THEIR ORGANIZATIONS SO
DRAMATICALLY, BUT THE EASTERN
EUROPEAN COUNTRIES AND THE UK
ARE THE ONES THAT ARE THE MOST
STEADFAST AND ACTUALLY, THE
EASTERN EUROPE COUNTRIES ARE
MAKING SIGNIFICANT SACK ARE
SACRIFICES GIVING UP EQUIPMENT
IN THEIR OPERATIONAL UNITS AND
WHEN YOU TALK TO THEM ABOUT IT,
THEY FLAT TELL YOU, THE REASON
THEY ARE DOING THAT IS WE ARE
FIGHTING THE WAR THAT WE THOUGHT
WE WERE GOING TO FIGHT "OUR
BODIES, OURSELVES" AND THE
UKRAINIANS ARE THE ONES THAT
ARE DOING IT SO WE’RE GOING TO
GIVE THEM THE EQUIPMENT WE HAVE.
IT’S NOT A STOCKPILE, WE’RE
TAKING AWAY FROM OUR UNITS
BECAUSE THEY HAVE THE
OPPORTUNITY TO DEFEAT RUSSIA
, AND THEREFORE, WE DON’T
HAVE TO FIGHT THEM LATER.
THAT MAKES A LOT OF SENSE TO ME.
NEIL: GOT IT.
GENERAL, THANK YOU VERY VERY
MUCH.
GOOD CATCHING UP WITH YOU
GENERAL JACK KEANE ON THIS
IMPORTANT DAY WHERE OF
COURSE THE PRESSURE IS ON
UKRAINE GROW AS DOES THE IN
PATIENCE WITH GETTING SOME HELP
AS MUCH HELP AS POSSIBLE.
YOU CAN UNDERSTAND WHERE THEY
ARE COMING FROM.