(DCWatchdog.com) – Republican US Senator Lindsey Graham advised President Joe Biden to declare Putin’s Russia a state sponsor of terrorism and provide Ukraine with US fighter jets so it could fight off Moscow’s invasion.
Graham made his recommendation on Sunday, on the ABC program “This Week,” a day before, on Monday, Biden made a surprise visit to the Ukrainian capital Kyiv.
These developments came right ahead of the first anniversary since, on February 24, 2022, Moscow leader Vladimir Putin launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in a seeming attempt to restore the former Soviet empire.
The ferocious resistance of the Ukrainians aided with top-notch Western weaponry has frustrated Putin’s plans and inflicted tremendous losses upon Russia. Several hundred thousand Russian troops have been killed and wounded, and over 20,000 units of Russian military equipment have been destroyed.
For months now, Ukraine’s leadership has been begging the US and its allies to supply it with fighter jets, but Western governments have been unwilling to do that so as not to provoke Putin to escalate the war further.
However, there have been certain developments in that direction, such as Britain’s declaration it would start training Ukrainian pilots on Western-type fighter jets.
In his “This Week” interview, Graham commented on the US participation in the Munich Security Conference in Germany, which took place over the weekend.
During the conference, US Vice President Kamala Harris stated Russia had committed crimes against humanity in Ukraine.
“Number one, there are 30 United States senators in Munich along with a big House delegation. Senator McConnell and Schumer both came,” the Republican US senator said.
“[There is a] virtually unanimous belief that we should be training Ukrainian pilots on the F-16 today so they can get the jets as soon as possible. The British are training Ukrainian pilots,” Graham added.
He also insisted a US decision to start training Ukrainian pilots on F-16 fighter jets “will be imminent here when we get back to Washington” since Ukraine “need(s) that weapons system.”
The South Carolina US senator declared that Harris was right to say Moscow committed crimes against humanity, which means Russia should also be declared a terrorist state.
“How can you call this war by Russia a crime against humanity… How can she say that, and she is correct, and not give the victim of the crime against humanity the defensive weapons they need to stop the crime?” Graham asked.
“We’re talking about the vice president of the United States declaring that Russia is involved in crimes against humanity in Germany of all places, you know, echoes of World War II,” he emphasized.
“So we need to do two things quickly. Make Russia a state sponsor of terrorism under US law, which would make it harder for China to give weapons to Russia, and we need to start training Ukrainian pilots on the F-16 now,” Graham elaborated.
ESCALATING: Sen. Lindsey Graham on Sunday morning declared that the U.S. must "do two things quickly: make Russia a state sponsor of terrorism under U.S. law. https://t.co/nQ6epr8byN
— Breitbart News (@BreitbartNews) February 19, 2023
