GOP Sen. Sullivan: Russia Ending Standoff with Ukraine 'a Head Fake'

Tuesday on “The Hugh Hewitt Show,” Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-AK) weighed in on Russia, reportedly claiming to be pulling troops away from the Ukrainian border.

Host Hugh Hewitt asked Sullivan if Russian President Vladimir Putin was going away or if it was a “head fake” by the authoritarian.

Sullivan called the move a “head fake” and warned that the United States should be “ready for something much bigger. He described Russia as “a mafia state acting as a gas station.”

“I think it’s a head fake, and I think we need to be ready for the head fake,” Sullivan advised. “And what I’ve been saying all along is we need to be ready for something much bigger. And it’s what I call the. It’s the new era of authoritarian aggression led by Putin, let by Xi Jinping. And I think it’s going to be with us for decades, Hugh. And I think we need a new mindset.”

“Everybody talks about great power competition. It’s not great power competition,” he continued. “Russia, in my view, is not a great power. It’s a mafia state acting as a gas station. But it is an aggressive power, and so is China, and we’re not ready for this right now.”

Follow Trent Baker on Twitter @MagnifiTrent