Alexander Vindman Calls on U.S. to Cut Oil, Send Drones For Ukraine Fight

(Bloomberg) -- Alexander Vindman, the former national security official who played a key role in former President Donald Trump's first impeachment, called on the U.S. to ban imports of Russian oil and send drones and other weaponry to support Ukraine's effort to fight off Russia's invasion.

“We should flood the zone,” Vindman said in an interview Friday with Bloomberg QuickTake, urging the U.S. and Europe to arm Ukrainians to “avoid a bloodbath.”

Vindman, who served as director of European Affairs for the U.S. Security Council, said the U.S. should give Ukraine whatever it needs. “Part of that program should include unmanned combat aerial vehicles, because there's an enormous mismatch between what Russian capabilities are and what the Ukrainian capabilities are.”

Vindman said he believed Ukraine as a sovereign country will survive this invasion through fierce resistance on the ground, but acknowledged it may lose some territory.

“It ends with Ukrainian sovereignty and territorial integrity -- I mean territorial integrity is in question -- but sovereignty and independence intact, because Russia can no longer achieve its its political objectives through military force.”

The U.S. has so far been reluctant to block imports of Russia oil on fears spiking prices would hurt the global economy more than it would Russian President Vladimir Putin. However, Vindman said Russia is “counting on the fact that there is not an appetite to levy these energy sanctions.”

As a White House official, Vindman, who was born in Ukraine and served as an officer in the U.S. Army, testified against Trump after the then-president spoke with Volodymyr Zelenskiy, who had just been elected Ukraine's president, and asked him to investigate Joe Biden's family in exchange for security aid.