Washington. January 16. INTERFAX - The United States and Russia have once again found themselves in a state of "cold war," Michael McCaul, the top Republican on the Foreign Affairs Committee of the House of Representatives, told CNN on Sunday.
"I think so. I think so because, as I believe, Russian President Vladimir Putin has again smelled weakness here," the congressman said in response to a question whether he believes that a new "cold war" has begun.
According to him, if the leadership of the Russian Federation starts an invasion of Ukraine, now is the time for it. At the same time, according to McCall, the Russian leadership has been "wanting to restore the glory of the former Soviet empire" for some time, and now "Ukraine is the breadbasket of Russia."
The congressman also said that Washington's efforts were insufficient in connection with the current situation.
"I don't see a significant deterrence (of Russia - IF). I see some tough rhetoric, but not a lot of action... You have to put things like sanctions on the table, you have to talk about the sale of more weapons, the sale of weapons to Ukraine," McCall added.
Last Friday, the US President's national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, said that American intelligence has information that the Russian side is allegedly preparing provocations against Ukraine in order to create a pretext for a full-scale military invasion.