WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Jim Risch (R-Idaho), ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, today released the following statement on concrete steps NATO should take to help Ukraine defend itself against Russia’s unprovoked war:
“As we enter the second month of Russia’s unprovoked war against Ukraine, it’s time NATO employs one of its fundamental security tasks – crisis management. This includes stronger logistical support and coordination among NATO allies to supply Ukraine with food, fuel, and the combat equipment it needs to win. NATO should also declare the NATO-Russia Founding Act is dead, as Russia has violated its core tenets.
“Unfortunately, this conflict has the potential to last months. If we had started training the Ukrainian military on our advanced systems in the first week of this war, we could be providing them with better equipment to fight back against Russia. Because this hasn’t happened, we must focus on providing Ukraine with more medium and long-range missile defense systems, MiGs, and other air defense systems. We should also coordinate with our European partners to implement secondary sanctions in order to truly bring Russia’s economy to a halt.
“The Ukrainian people have demonstrated their resilience and determination to win this war. The United States and NATO must do everything in our power to provide Ukraine with what it needs to defeat Russia.”
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