As Russia’s war in Ukraine enters its second year, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., issued a lengthy statement defending the lethal aid being sent to Ukraine as a “direct investment” against Vladimir Putin’s “war machine.”
“The innocent people of Ukraine have suffered devastating violence and destruction at the hands of Vladimir Putin and his war machine for years,” McConnell wrote in a one-year statement, Newsmax reports, reflecting on Russia’s so-called “special military operation” and the hundred billion-plus sent to defend Ukraine against Russian aggression.
“The bloody full-scale escalation that he began one year ago with zero justification is just the latest chapter. The brave and free men and women of Ukraine and their elected leaders have inspired the world with their courage and resolute determination to maintain their sovereignty and freedom in the face of this thuggery.
“As my fellow leading Republicans and I have explained, it is not an act of charity for the United States and our NATO allies to help supply the Ukrainian people’s self-defense. It is a direct investment in our own core national interests.”
McConnell made the argument that the proverbial front line of American defense begins in Ukraine.
“America is a world power with worldwide interests,” his statement continued. “Our security and prosperity are deeply intertwined with a secure and stable Europe. If Putin were given a green light to destabilize Europe, invading and killing at will, the long-term cost to the United States in both dollars and security risks would be astronomically higher than the miniscule fraction of our GDP that we have invested in Ukraine’s defense thus far.”
McConnell responded to claims that the U.S. is funding a non-NATO ally’s defense by saying the older weapons stockpile is being sent overseas, and the new investment is actually helping to modernize the U.S. defense weapons.
“Moreover, the U.S. is largely sending Ukraine older weapons from our stockpile,” he wrote. “This means that a significant portion of the money Congress has appropriated is going directly to strengthen America’s own defense by replenishing our inventories with more modern versions of these older weapons we have transferred to Ukraine.”
I’d like to remind Sen. McConnell that Ukraine is not in NATO, is not an ally of the US, is not democratically run- Zelensky is a corrupt despot who jails opposition, and it’s not our fight. There is no threat to the US in this fight, it’s not our fight. We’ve sent billions of dollars to Ukraine, there’s been no accountability as to where this money went. Zelensky now has the nerve to demand, not ask, demand more. It’s now time for focus on issues in America, we don’t live in Europe. Biden found time to go to Ukraine but doesn’t have time, or interest in the tragedy in E. Palestine, Ohio, which is in America. Why is that? He’s the president of the US , not Ukraine. Wake up America, the real threat to our way of life is not from external forces, the enemy is from within.
Thank you Senator McConnell!
“Investment” is the right word!!! The support of Ukraine by the US is because our policies are profit-driven by the Military Industrial Complex. Make no mistake about it. Biden and the rest of our government do not care about Ukraine. America has supported vicious dictators in the past and continues to do so even now. Freedom and democracy are not the values that drive our policies. It’s profits for the weapons makers that matters most.