New this morning, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin called out Vladimir Putin directly over the war in Ukraine and laid out the tremendous price Russia has paid for its aggression Russia has paid a staggering cost for Putin's imperial dreams. At least 315,000 Russian troops have been killed or wounded since Putin's all out invasion in February. 20, 22. Russia has squandered up to $211 billion to equip, deploy, maintain and sustain its imperial aggression against Ukraine. Secretary Austin's comments come just days after Putin solidified his autocratic grip on power in Moscow, following what the West described as a sham election. In Applebaum joins us now. She's a historian and staff writer for The Atlantic, as well as a senior fellow at the Johns Hopkins School of International Studies. And great to see you as always, really appreciate it. What do you make of Secretary Austin's comments about the price that Russia has paid? Does that even resonate inside of Russia? Do they even hear that message? Do they know the price they paid? Yes, I think people do know the price. I mean, they may not know the exact numbers of course, Russia conceals the number of casualties from its own people. The Russians don't advertise how many airplanes they've lost or how many large ships they've lost. Ukrainian drones. And nor do they talk much about the number of refineries that the Ukrainians have managed to hit in the last few weeks using drones. You know, but people, of course, feel those effects. They may not be able to articulate it. They they may be forbidden to speak about it. You can be arrested in Russia for criticizing the war. If somebody overhears you even in a restaurant that happened a few months ago, just to to a couple in central Russia. So, you know, they feel that they know things are wrong and of course, the point of Putin's election campaign and the reason why he ran this sham election with no opponents and with no campaign was to bring home and to force Russians to accept him. You know, even though he knows he's illegitimate and he knows his war is going badly. So I don't think the election campaign demonstrates you know, it's not it's not what somebody does. If they're confident they don't have a they don't know organize a fake electrical fake opponents. Yeah, absolutely. And let's talk about funding for Ukraine, because obviously, I mean, part of the point, I think, of Secretary Austin's comments is to say, despite what you see going on in Moscow and Putin solidifying his power there, I mean, the Russians are not still not doing well in Ukraine, not well enough, obviously, to sweep into power in Kiev and so on. But but what is going to happen if Ukraine does not get this funding that it desperately needs right now and if it does happen to get it? I mean, there's been talk about perhaps providing aid in the form of loans and so on. That will just be too little, too late. So it's never too little and it's never too late. And, you know, we have been able to get them some funding. There's talk of going into US stocks and U.S. US saved weapons that we have in the United States and giving them those if Congress won't allocate money. And so, you know, the Europeans are giving weapons to Ukraine. The Czech president has started an initiative to buy ammunition around the world, and that's happening. There was a recent meeting of the Polish, German and French prime ministers who are recommitted also. So it's not as if the United States is doing this alone. It is true that there is a gap this year. The European weapons production is not up to providing Ukraine with what it needs this year. And really only the United States is capable of filling that. And of course, the Russians know that. And that's why there's so much Russian propaganda. You can see it on the Internet. It affects members of Congress because Putin isn't able to win on the ground. But he could wind through through Washington he could he could win through pressuring pressuring Congress to to block that aid. So the Ukrainians do need our weapons. They do need our ammunition. They do need it this year. And the faster that Congress can get it done, the better we do. Wow. That phrase you just used there went through Washington. I mean, that that's that is that is making me pause for a moment to just contemplate that. And and I guess, I mean, the next logical question, the follow up question to that would be if Putin went through Washington in Ukraine, which countries in Eastern Europe have to be worried next? I mean, there's been talk about Moldova, the Baltics, I mean, there are serious consequences here if he can outlast the Americans and the West and get what he wants in Ukraine. It's not just Eastern Europe. You know, Putin's guns are within range. His weapons are in range of Germany. I mean, so there's Germany, Poland, the Baltic states. You know, it would have an enormous impact on the European continent. And, of course, there would be wider and deeper impact that I think most Americans haven't thought about. You know, America, as the security guarantor in Europe, has an enormous amount of power and influence. You know, why do European countries spend billions of dollars on U.S. weapons? Why do they buy U.S. energy equipment? Why does the U.S. get priority in trade negotiations? All of those things are connected to to the NATO's guarantee in subtle ways and sometimes in open ways. And the United States would really be the loser if we if we're unable to keep our word and continue to aid Ukraine and if the loss of Ukraine means that the rest of Europe is threatened. All right. Anne Applebaum, as always, we really appreciate those insights. And thanks so much for joining us this morning. Really appreciate it.
