Russia is likely to invade countries beyond Ukraine, a former national security adviser to Donald Trump testified before Congress on Wednesday, warning against cuts to U.S. defense spending proposed by some House Republicans as part of debt-limit talks.
Russian President Vladimir Putin is "interested in reacquiring territory in what was the space of the former Russian Empire," Fiona Hill, a member of former President Trump's National Security Council, told the Senate Armed Services Committee. "All of those countries feel a great deal of anxiety."
"Putin has said the world needs to get used to the fact that Russia is territorially expanding again," said Hill, now a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution who specializes in Russia and Europe. "This is a pretty grim picture."
Approaching the first anniversary of Russia's invasion, more—not less—investment in U.S. defense capabilities is needed, members of the expert panel told lawmakers Wednesday. They said America could otherwise fail to meet Ukraine's demands for military equipment and find itself lagging far behind adversaries Russia, China, and Iran.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky, seeking Western support for his country's defensive war against Russia, has warned that Moscow has designs on territory elsewhere in Europe. Both Moldova's pro-Western government and Kazakhstan have expressed concerns about the threat from Russia.

With Russia showing no signs of backing down, the United States now stands at "the precipice of a new stage in the war where Ukraine will need tanks and other conventional offensive platforms," according to Roger Zakheim, a former Armed Services Committee official who serves as Washington, D.C., director for the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute.
The "massive consumption" of military hardware in Ukraine has exposed America's inability to quickly produce military equipment, said Zakheim, urging that the United States recapture its "builder's mindset."

Source: Washington Free Beacon/ Photo: Reuters