Fox News Flash top headlines for January 23
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One national security expert said that President Biden gave Russian President Vladimir Putin a "green light" to enter Ukraine.
Amid increasing tensions between Russia and Ukraine, the U.K.'s Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office said on Saturday that it has information suggesting that the Russian government is plotting to install a pro-Kremlin leader in Kyiv.
"We have information that indicates the Russian Government is looking to install a pro-Russian leader in Kyiv as it considers whether to invade and occupy Ukraine," a spokesperson for the British agency said.
K.T. McFarland, deputy national security adviser to former President Donald Trump told Fox News Digital that President Biden has brought the current cirumstnaces upon himself, seemingly giving President Putin a "green light" during a press conference this week.
Presidents Biden and Putin (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images | Mikhail Svetlov/Getty Images)
"When President Biden last week seemed to give him even a bigger green light and a signal, well, I think Vladimir Putin can do anything right now. He could invade. He could have a hybrid war, but he will get his objective one way or the other, either today or within the next year," McFarland said.
McFarland claimed the fact that the United States is evacuating the families of embassy personnel in Ukraine is a sign that "we think things are going to get really bad and we don't want Americans anywhere near it."
The national security expert said that the chaotic Afghanistan withdrawal "contributed" to what's now taking place between Ukraine and Russia because it gave other countries the perception that the United States is "chaotic" and "won't stand up to its adversaries."
"Whatever happened in Afghanistan had a ripple effect with Ukraine. Whatever is going to happen with Ukraine is going to have a ripple effect with China, but it will have a ripple effect with Iran. It's going to have a ripple effect with North Korea because all of these countries will think they'll seize the moment. They'll think this is my time. America's weak, it's disorganized," McFarland said.
The comments came around the same time that Fox News confirmed that China had flown fighter jets near Taiwan in what was the communist country's strongest show of force in months.
FAMILIES OF US EMBASSY PERSONNEL IN UKRAINE ORDERED TO BEGIN EVACUATING AS SOON AS MONDAY: OFFICIALS
Members of Ukraine's Territorial Defense Forces, volunteer military units of the Armed Forces, train in a city park in Kyiv, Ukraine, Saturday, Jan. 22, 2022. Dozens of civilians have been joining Ukraine's army reserves in recent weeks amid fears about Russian invasion. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)
She said when the Afghanistan withdrawal is looked at in the future, it will be seen as "the tipping point where our allies couldn't trust us."
"Our adversaries thought they had a free hand. And that's why you're seeing President Putin, in part because of energy, in part because it perceives a weak American president, in part because he's he's got his high price of oil, natural gas, has made him rich again. All those things added together have given Vladimir Putin a green light to say, This is my time," McFarland said.
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FILE - President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin, arrive to meet at the 'Villa la Grange', in Geneva, Switzerland, June 16, 2021. (Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, File Pool)
Fox News senior strategic analyst Gen. Jack Keane (Ret.) said that President Biden is making a "strategic mistake" by not taking any preemptive actions.
"He made a strategic mistake. By not taking any preemptive actions. To be curbed from conducting military operations in Ukraine. And by that, I mean economic sanctions for deploying troops to Ukraine, border moving naval forces into NATO countries, particularly Poland and Romania," Keane said.
However, Keane doesn't think Russia will attempt any kind of military operation with the Olympics going on in China beginning in February.
"I cannot imagine Putin conducting any military operation that would get the attention of the entire world when his friend and cohort President Xi is trying to run the Beijing Olympics," Keane said.
Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Fox News Sunday that the Russian government does not see any credibility in President Biden.
"When they had Russian cyber attacks and they shut down the Colonial Pipeline, we told them you can only attack certain sectors but 16 are off-limits. When we left Afghanistan the way we did. Those were the places where the administration had the chance to establish deterrence. Putin saw this," Pompeo said. "I think they don’t see President Biden as credible."