Thread by @jseldin

NEW: US lawmakers pushing White House to be even bolder in backing #Ukraine vs #Russia

"We need to be more aggressive" House Armed Services Committee Chair @RepAdamSmith tells @GWUPMNS, calling the view "bipartisan"

"We could be doing more w/the type of weapons we're sending"

"We need to be giving more sophisticated systems, particularly when it comes to drones & long range artillery" per @RepAdamSmith

"I don't think we have been fast enough to get the Ukrainians the drones we have available" he says, mentioning the MQ-1C #GrayEagle

"When it comes to drones & when it comes to long-range artillery, we've been too cautious" per @RepAdamSmith

"I don't agree w/the president's take that we can't give the #Ukrainians anything capable of striking #Russia... We should give them [#Ukraine] more of that"

HASC Chair @RepAdamSmith says he is telling @POTUS, the White House to give #Ukraine the more sophisticated systems & more quickly "near constantly"

Says he will repeat the message in meetings today & tomorrow

"The way the fight is playing out right now, certainly, the #Russia|ns have more artillery...The Russians right now have better ISR, they have better drones going out & seeing #Ukrainian artillery positions" per @RepAdamSmith "The Ukrainians don't have that same visibility"

#Ukraine "They need more ISR [Intelligence, Surveillance & Reconnaissance] & that's drone capability" per @RepAdamSmith

"They also need more counter-drone capability, the ability to jam & disrupt the drones" he says

More on the drones that could be sent to #Ukraine-"That is a volume issue" per @RepAdamSmith "We have in place sufficient volume. We just have to pace sufficient emphasis on that in terms of what we've been trying to deliver"

Despite #Russia|n claims of targeting/hitting weapon deliveries, "we are still capable of getting a lot of weapons into #Ukraine & we're seeing them being used in the battlefield" HASC Chair @RepAdamSmith tells @GWUPMNS

#Russia|n efforts to stop weapon deliveries to #Ukraine: "Obviously, they're not shutting it down" @RepAdamSmith

But he cautions, "It will be a constant cat & mouse game to figure out how to get them in and around Russian defenses"

#China's stakes in the #Russia-#Ukraine war

"I think they're looking to see if #Putin is going to be successful or not, & that will be part of their calculation as to whether or not they can attack #Taiwan" per @RepAdamSmith

"The more it appears #Putin isn't able to be successful in #Ukraine, the more it will give #China pause" re #Taiwan, per @RepAdamSmith

But @RepAdamSmith says the deterrent effect of #Russia's struggles in #Ukraine is just part of the equation re #Taiwan

"Building alliances, convincing the rest of the world that our way actually is better for them...& we got a lot of work to do in that regard"

"We have to present ourselves as a leader in a partnership towards a more stable world" per @RepAdamSmith on the stakes of #Russia-#Ukraine, #China

"America First, American exceptionalism isn't going to cut it" he says

"Every single weapon that we've given #Ukraine to date could quote unquote hit inside #Russia" per @RepAdamSmith

"The point of giving them the weapons is not to be able to strike into Russia...[It's] to hit the Russians who are inside Ukraine from a longer, safer distance"