VIDEO: Fischer on Russia's Invasion of Ukraine, Nuclear Deterrence, Breakdown in MiG Transfer & Inflation

Press Release

U.S. Senator Deb Fischer (R-Neb.), a senior member of the Senate Armed Services Committee and the top Republican on the Subcommittee on Strategic Forces, today joined CNBC's Squawk Box. During the interview, Sen. Fischer discussed the latest with Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the importance of nuclear deterrence, and the administration's uncertain approach to working with our European allies and partners. Sen. Fischer also highlighted how inflation is hurting Nebraska families and small businesses.

A transcript of Sen. Fischer's interview with CNBC Squawk Box is below:

On latest with Russia's invasion of Ukraine:

Becky Quick: Senator Deb Fischer is here; she's a senior member of the Senate Armed Services Committee. Senator, thank you. As a member of the Armed Services Committee, you have access to a lot of information. A lot of things that have fed your view of Putin at this point. I know you had been pushing for stronger sanctions. Now that we are here. Do you think we are moving the right way with our allies?

Senator Fischer: Well, I think the President really moved too slowly. The sanctions weren't tough enough at the beginning. As you said, we had information on this, public information, and also in our classified briefings on the tremendous build-up, we saw from Russia. This was not a surprise in any way that Russia was going to move into Ukraine. In fact, there was information out there that was very, very detailed about it. So those sanctions should have been ready to go, and they should have happened before the invasion started. If you're going to deter somebody, you need to show that you mean business on it. To wait until after the tanks started rolling in was too late.

On helping Ukraine, Supporting Transfer of MiGs

Becky Quick: What I will say is what we're doing right now. Obviously, we can't change what happened to this point. What do you think of how we are working with our allies in Europe at this point? What do you think of the sanctions? And what are your expected next steps?

Senator Fischer: Yeah, you know some of it's been good in working with allies, and I give the administration credit for that. But I think there's a lot of uncertainty out there, and we see that in the administration's response to the Poles when they offered their fighter jets. President Zelensky, in talking to members of Congress this last weekend in a phone conversation, he stressed that he needed fighter jets. He needed that; he needed more Javelins, Stingers, things like that. And then we heard the Secretary of State basically saying, well, you know if the Poles want to do it. But then, when it came right down to it, and the Poles offered those fighter jets, we have a mixed signal from the administration saying no, we can't do it with the logistics involved. I think it's extremely important that we have a clear direction to our allies in order to work with them. You know we have seen the administration previously in Afghanistan and the blunders there and trying to catch up our allies to what was going on. It really showed, I personally think, incompetence. I don't want that uncertainty to continue here with Ukraine.

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Joe Kernen: Senator, you mentioned that the mixed signals about the MiGs going from Poland, through Germany, and maybe to Ukraine. Did you say whether you thought that that should have been okayed by the administration or not? Every new detail we hear about some of the war crimes, there are people who say, when is enough enough? We could have done something with that stalled convoy. There are a lot of things that we could do, but anything that we decide to do, you risk escalating this to a place where we don't want to go. Were you saying we should allow the MiGs, we should arm the Ukrainians with fighter jets right now? We should allow that?

Senator Fischer: You know the Poles have offered it. The administration, the first signal they put out was that they would allow it.

Joe Kernen: What should we do? What do you think?

Senator Fischer: I think there's logistics there. I think that they should be allowed to go in, while they still can be delivered to the Ukrainians. These avenues of transporting defensive weapons, fighters possibly, those areas are going to close. It's just a question of time if the Ukrainians do not receive the defensive equipment that they need. Sure, there's logistics involved, and I would imagine that the administration had thought through that. I would hope that they thought through that if we're going to backfill, for example, the 29 jets that they offered to send into Ukraine. But those are decisions that I think would be helpful, not just for Congress for our classified briefings, but for the people of this country to be able to understand what's happening. First of all, I am a strong supporter of when possible, to be able to declassify some material so that we can explain to the citizens of this country the threats that we face, the threats we are looking at in Europe right now, and what are options are and how the decisions are made. Some of that can be declassified. I think we would have more support for actions taken by the administration if that information would be available, not just to Congress, but especially to the people of this country. They have a right to know when we are involved, possibly with Article Five and future actions. People in this country have a right to know where we're going to head.

On Nuclear Deterrence:

Becky Quick: You know, I'd like to see areas where we are moving united forward to deal with threats outside this country. I don't need to explain to you with STRATCOM in your backyard how concerning the prospect of a war with another country that has nuclear weapons might be. If we aren't sure that Putin is a rational character at this point, what do we do to make sure that we are as strong as possible dealing with him? Trying to make sure he has nowhere to go but also treading lightly enough that we don't inadvertently kick off a third world war.

Senator Fischer: You know, I think you put that very well. It's a fine line here, and we have to balance it. We had a posture briefing from Admiral Richard, who is Combatant Commander of STRATCOM. We had that earlier this week, in the Armed Services Committee and then a classified briefing. I believe he was very upfront in the open hearing as well about the importance of deterrence. So, I think that we can show that we are firmly supportive of our nuclear triad, the deterrence system that we have and we are going to continue with the modernization of that. That sends a clear message. Deterrence is important across the board. It underpins every strategic decision the Department of Defense makes. I think the clarity that Admiral Richard offered, the clarity that I continue to express on that and my colleagues across the board and Chairman Jack Reed, a Democrat who chairs the Armed Services Committee, is very strong when it comes to our triad and deterrence necessary to keep peace in this world. So I think that is obviously somewhere where we need to continue to be strong on and stand firm and make it very clear to Putin and to any other adversary that we recognize the importance of deterrence and protecting our homeland. But also for our allies who are under that nuclear umbrella that we have.

Becky Quick: Georgette Mosbacher, the former ambassador to Poland, was with us earlier this morning. She suggested that you would never want to use the word appeasement, but her idea of compromise in agreeing that Ukraine would not be admitted to NATO anytime soon. Even giving up the territories in the eastern part of Ukraine where the separatists have kind of engaged in those two areas. Is that something you think is a good idea? Or would that encourage Putin too much and reward him for the incredibly awful human behavior he has exhibited to this point?

Senator Fischer: I think it would reward a war criminal. Ukraine is a sovereign nation. They are showing courage; we are all inspired by the courage they have. If we can continue to step up the reinforcement of those defensive materials that they need and that they've requested, they will be able to have defense of their nation. They have shown that they are capable. They have shown that they have the will to fight, and they have shown really what a war criminal looks like in this day and age. When you have Putin bombing a maternity hospital, killing children, indiscriminately bombing in civilian areas. He will need to answer for that.

On Inflation

Becky Quick: I hope so. The Consumer Price Index comes in just a few minutes. Inflation has been running rampant in this country, and I know the Midwest has seen some of the highest numbers in the country. What are you hearing from your constituents? What can we do to help?

Senator Fischer: My constituents are really frustrated. Inflation is the number one issue I hear about, whether it's from farmers who have looked at the 200% increase in fertilizer costs as they try to make planting plans for spring. Whether it's people on a fixed income, our seniors who are seeing their energy prices go up or families trying to buy groceries. I was visiting a small-town coffee shop just this last week, and the electric bill for that small-town coffee shop it was $40 some last month. It was over $300 this month. It hits small businesses. It hits every sector of our economy. I have some businesses that we say are above that 7.9%, and as you said, it's higher in the Midwest. They say it's closer to 11%. So I'm anxious to see what the percentage is going to be here later today.

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