President Joe Biden's speech Tuesday to the United Nations General Assembly showed a lack of commitment and leadership to addressing global challenges, Kurt Volker, former Ambassador to NATO, told Newsmax on Tuesday.
Volker said Biden hasn't developed a plan for helping Ukraine defeat Russia and hasn't held Iran accountable for its proxy war on Israel.
"When the United States was strong and providing leadership, things got better," Volker said on "American Agenda." "They just didn't get better on their own. You need that kind of American role. I think that there has been an incredible emphasis on de-escalation, on avoiding getting into conflicts. And that is a signal to our adversaries that it's safe for them, that they can go and launch these conflicts and not have anything to worry about."
Volker said the withdrawal from Afghanistan signaled to the world America's lack of will, convincing Putin it was safe to invade Ukraine and emboldening China and Iran.
Russia's invasion of Ukraine was not a surprise to Volker, who said Biden should have sent a stronger warning signal that it was not going to tolerate it. Volker said he was one of many people calling for Biden to sanction Russia before the invasion.
"Putin felt it was cost free," Volker said.
When it comes to dealing with Russa, Volker said former President Donald Trump showed strength.
"He [threw] the Russians out of the consulate in San Francisco, which was basically just a spying operation," Volker said. "He threw dozens more out of New York and Washington. He increased sanctions on Russia. He was trying to shut down the Nord Stream pipeline, and he gave Ukraine its first lethal defensive weapons."
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