Secretary Hegseth denies reports he halted Pentagon cyber ops against the Kremlin while trying to defend Trump White House pro-Russian policies vs the US bipartisan pro-Ukrainian stance.

by  Alex Raufoglu | June 13, 2025

US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth testifies before the House Armed Services Committee in Washington, June 12, 2025. (Official Defense Department Photo

WASHINGTON DC – US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth on Thursday strongly defended the Trump administration’s policy towards Ukraine and Russia, while also denying reports that the Pentagon had paused cyber operations against Moscow.

“We did not!” the Pentagon head told lawmakers in the final day of his multi-day spree of testimony on Capitol Hill, when pressed by the House Armed Committee members about recent reports that the US Cyber Command last month briefly stopped its offensive operations aimed at Russia as a negotiating tactic.

While Democrat lawmakers refused to take the former Fox News anchor at his word, their Republican colleagues didn’t appear to be awfully pleased by Hegseth’s performance either – particularly when he attempted to dodge questions on Ukraine, Russia, NATO’s defense, and other key topics.

“Russia must be stopped!” Republican Congressman Mike Rogers (R-AL), who chaired the panel, said. “Make no mistake, a Russian victory in Ukraine would also be a victory for China, North Korea, and Iran. We cannot let that happen,” he added.

Rogers emphasized that threats to US national security “have never been more urgent or complex.”

“Adversaries like China, Russia, North Korea, and Iran continue to expand their military power. And they’re no longer acting alone,” he said, adding, “these countries are strategically building alliances and supporting each other with drones, munitions, satellite technology, and energy supplies – we’re seeing that acutely in Ukraine.”

Congressman Joe Wilson (R-SC), another leading Republican, questioned Hegseth about Russian president Putin’s – as he put it, “rebuffing Trump’s outreach to end war”.

“Every time President Trump tries to reduce the conflict, war criminal Putin increases mass murder of drones and missile attacks on the people and civilians of Ukraine – including hospitals this week,” Wilson argued.

When Hegseth tried to dismiss the fact that Putin had been ignoring Trump, citing a familiar White House line that the Kremlin leader had not reinvaded Ukraine during Trump’s first presidency, Wilson pushed back as saying that if the Russian dictator “had really appreciated what President Trump was trying to do, he wouldn’t have invaded – whether Biden was president or not.”

Other lawmakers also repeatedly lashed Hegseth for stopping short of voicing support for Ukraine in the face of Russian attacks.

The Pentagon head then was quickly hit with queries from panel Democrats, starting with ranking member Adam Smith (D-WA) pressing him on Greenland and Panama.

Hegseth would not rule out the possibility of a future military invasion of the Arctic territory and Central American country, suggesting that the Pentagon could have such plans.

The answer caused Smith to scoff, replying: “I don’t think the American people voted for President Trump because they were hoping we would invade Greenland.”

Hegseth was later pressed by Rep. Mike Turner (R-OH), who implored him to confirm that “it is not your testimony today that there are plans at the Pentagon for taking by force or invading Greenland, correct?”

Hegseth would only repeat that the Pentagon “has plans for any number of contingencies.”

Rep. Salud Carbajal (D-CA) lambasted the Pentagon chief as an “embarrassment,” demanding he resign over a range of issues, including his views on Russia’s war in Ukraine. “I have called for your resignation. I didn’t think you were qualified before your confirmation, and you have done nothing to inspire confidence in your ability to lead competently,” Carbajal said.

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‘Reagan Stood His Ground’ – Republicans Lose Patience With Trump’s ‘Escalation Management’

Key Republican senator Chuck Grassley: “Had the West given the Ukrainians what they needed earlier, they might have pushed Russia out of their country by now.”

by  Alex Raufoglu | June 13, 2025

WASHINGTON DC – Now that US President Donald Trump’s apparent “two weeks” deadline laid out for the Kremlin is up without a ceasefire in Ukraine, key Republican Senators are taking a fresh swipe at the White House for its inaction towards Russian leader Vladimir Putin.

“Weakness is what provokes a KGB man like Putin,” Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) said Thursday in his address to the Senate floor, urging Trump to refrain from “making the same mistake” as his predecessor, Joe Biden.

“Biden was too timid in his approach, trying to manage escalation, “ he explained. “Had the West instead given the Ukrainians what they needed earlier, they might have pushed Russia out of their country by now,” he said.

Grassley added, “President Trump ought not to make the same mistake that President Biden made. I think Putin thinks that he can play President Trump.”

Although the US President has recently floated that the Kremlin could be “tapping us along”, he has been veering away from overtly criticizing Putin, while openly berating Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Speaking to reporters at the White House on Thursday, Trump repeated his previous statements that he was unhappy with both Russia and Ukraine for not reaching a peace agreement.

“I’m very disappointed in Russia, but also in Ukraine, because agreements could have been reached,” Trump said. “They’re losing five to six thousand people a week – mostly soldiers, but also civilians, because cities are being bombarded with missiles again.”

Back on Capitol Hill, Republican lawmakers, such as Grassley, believe that Putin will only respond to strength, and that the Congress “ought to give President Trump the tools to stand up to Putin” with strong sanctions that, as Senator Grassley put it, “plug the loopholes in the current Biden sanctions.”

Grassley is among the 84 Senators who support Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and Richard Blumenthal’s (D-CT) Sanctioning Russia Act of 2025, which calls for “bone-crushing” sanctions to cripple the Russian war machine. The authors of the bill believe that Putin lies to Trump to dodge new sanctions and keep his brutal war going

“Putin’s lackey, former ‘puppet’ President Medvedev, admitted recently that what Russia wants is not peace but in his words ‘swift victory’ and, again, in his words, a ‘complete destruction’ of the Ukrainian Government,” Grassley said in his speech.

Another Republican Senator, Bill Cassidy (R-LA), said Wednesday night that one way the US could effectively help Ukraine is by crushing Russia’s oil trade, particularly in Europe.

“The EU using more US liquefied natural gas throws a wrench in Vladimir Putin’s war machine. Last year, the EU paid 22 billion Euros for Russian natural gas and, again, Putin used that money to fund his war,” he said, adding, “We can help them by saying: ‘Don’t buy Putin’s gas to fuel his war, by ours.’”

Cassidy recalled that following Putin’s brutal invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the US and Europe helped Kyiv stand up against Putin. “Let’s use our energy to do it even more so,” he said, echoing the Graham/Blumenthal bill.

Senator Grassley also urged Trump not to hesitate to stand up to the Russian dictator. He went on to draw historic examples, such as former US President Ronald Reagan’s infamous 1987 speech at the Brandenburg Gate during which the Republican president dared to call for the then-Soviet Union’s General Secretary to “tear down” the Berlin Wall.

“Those lines were nearly left out of [Reagan’s] speech after the advisers from the State Department and the National Security Council claimed that the statement was, in their words, ‘too provocative.’ But President Reagan stood his ground. He wanted to speak directly to the hearts of the divided world and take a moral stance against tyranny,” Grassley reminded.

He then concluded: “It turned out that Reagan’s words were prophetic—not provocative. President Reagan’s words resonated with millions of East Germans. These East Germans dreamed of freedom. Two years later, the wall came down.”