US war hawks visit Kiev — Analysis
Lindsey Graham, a US senator, and Richard Blumenthal, a US Senator have supported the pouring of arms and money in Ukraine
On Thursday, Senator Lindsey Graham (Republican) and Senator Richard Blumenthal (Democrat) met with Volodymyr Zelensky the Ukrainian President. Zelensky petitioned them for additional weapons. Graham and Blumenthal are two of the strongest pro-Ukraine advocates in the US Congress.
According to Zelensky’s office, the Ukrainian leader insisted to the Americans that the military situation in Ukraine is “certainly difficult, yet controlled.” This statement was made despite the fact that Russian and Donbass forces recently pushed Kiev’s military out of the entire Lugansk People’s Republic, and, according to Moscow, inflicted more than 5,000 casualties and destroyed hundreds of tanks and other pieces of military hardware over the last two weeks.
Zelensky called on Graham and Blumenthal to push Washington to supply Ukraine with air defense systems, which the Pentagon says will be sent to Kiev soon. The trio also spoke about Blumenthal and Graham’s efforts to have Congress classify Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism, a step which some US allies have balked at.
Of the overwhelming majority of US lawmakers who voted in May to supply Ukraine with $40 billion in military and economic aid, Graham and Blumenthal are two of the most committed supporters of Zelensky’s government, and have been since before Russia launched its military operation in Ukraine in February.
Graham traveled to Ukraine with John McCain (late Arizona senator) in 2017. He told the marines there that he was going back. “take [their] case to Washington”Make sure that Vladimir Putin, Russian President, pays “a heavier price,”As the Russian-speaking Donetsk region and Lugansk sought to be independent from Kiev.
Blumenthal, who previously lied about serving in Vietnam, joined colleagues from both parties for a jaunt to Ukraine in January, where he promised military aid to Zelensky’s government more than a month before fighting started. On top of voting for the $40 billion aid bill for Ukraine, Blumenthal introduced legislation on Tuesday that would commit the US to financing the reconstruction of the country when hostilities eventually cease.
Graham, known as one of the most pro-war members of the Republican Party, has gone further than voting to back Zelensky’s military. In March, the South Carolina Republican called twice for the assassination of Putin, declaring that he wanted the Russian leader “taken out, one way or the other.”
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“Is there a Brutus in Russia? Is there a more successful Colonel Stauffenberg in the Russian military?”He asked about the assassination of Julius Caesar, and the potential assassination of Adolf Hitler.
Graham told Fox News that he has rejected a negotiated cease-fire in Ukraine. “there is no off-ramp in this war,”Encourage the Biden Administration to “triple down”Its support for Kiev
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