Risch on Ukraine: The World Is Desperate for American Leadership
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Jim Risch (R-Idaho), ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, today joined his Republican colleagues in a press conference to discuss Russia’s continued aggression against Ukraine and President Zelenskyy’s address to Congress.
Watch Senator Risch’s full opening remarks on YouTube here.
Download Senator Risch’s opening remarks on Google Drive here.
On the need to help Ukraine enforce a no-fly zone:
“President Zelenskyy is right calling for a no-fly zone. He is the president of that country and should declare a no-fly zone. And we should provide the means for him to enforce that no-fly zone. We need to give him the means to do it, and that can be done. Obviously there’s been some material that the administration has provided. They need to provide more.”
On the need for the administration to act:
“I’m sick and tired of hearing the administration talk about being worried about what Putin’s thinking he’s going to do. I want to hear from the administration what they’re doing to put in Putin’s mind a fear and a thought of what are we going to do. We’re the most powerful nation on the planet. We need to telegraph that to Putin. I want to hear them start talking about winning not about settling.”
On what President Biden should do at NATO meetings next week:
“Look, I hope he listens. All of us listened to our counterparts and administrations of our NATO allies. And they’re telling us one thing: they are desperate for American leadership. Desperate for American leadership. Zelenskyy said that and you heard him say that. I can tell you, dealing daily with our European allies, they want us to lead.”
These remarks have been lightly edited for clarity – a full transcript is below:
“Thank you very much. Like all of you, I’m sure you were impressed with the speech that President Zelenskyy gave this morning. Anyone who watched that and watched the film that accompanied it couldn’t help but be moved – that really brings home very closely to everyone what’s happening there. And this is all done by one man. It’s hard to believe we’re living in the 21st century with eight billion people on this planet and one man can do this, particularly when it’s against a civilized world, a lot of which is substantially more powerful than he is.
“President Zelenskyy is right calling for a no-fly zone. He is the president of that country and should declare a no-fly zone. And we should provide the means for him to enforce that no-fly zone. We need to give him the means to do it, and that can be done. Obviously there’s been some material that the administration has provided. They need to provide more.
“We have Hawk systems, we have NASAMS systems that are available. Also available are the S-200s, the S-300s, and the S-400s – all of those are surface-to-air missiles that can enforce a no-fly zone in Ukraine.
“I’m sick and tired of hearing the administration talk about being worried about what Putin’s thinking he’s going to do. I want to hear from the administration what they’re doing to put in Putin’s mind a fear and a thought of what are we going to do. We’re the most powerful nation on the planet. We need to telegraph that to Putin. I want to hear them start talking about winning not about settling.
“I also think the administration could do themselves a lot of good by thinking of this in terms that are strategic and not tactical. The strategy of what this world is going to look like in the future hangs in the balance with this fight. They need to focus on that and quit focusing on the tactical things that they’re focusing on.”
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“You know, I’ve been doing this a long time and for the first time ever, I’m hearing from our European allies, NATO countries, ‘America toughen up.’ First time ever.”
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“Zelenskyy thinks he can win. He’s betting his life on it.”
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“Look, I hope he listens. All of us listened to our counterparts and administrations of our NATO allies. And they’re telling us one thing: they are desperate for American leadership. Desperate for American leadership. Zelenskyy said that and you heard him say that. I can tell you, dealing daily with our European allies, they want us to lead. Thank you all for coming.”
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