Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) on Thursday criticized Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s journey to Pennsylvania, the place he appeared with Gov. Josh Shapiro (D) in what many Republicans noticed as a political occasion.
Graham advised reporters on the Capitol that “what happened in Pennsylvania was a mistake.”
Graham mentioned he didn’t know who set the assembly up and that Zelensky’s go to to a munitions manufacturing unit to thank staff “makes sense.” However the political overtones of the journey, Graham recommended, ought to have been averted.
“Whether it was intended or not, [it] has a political perception, and that was a mistake,” Graham mentioned.
However Graham additionally mentioned that error must be stripped from the long-term targets of making certain Ukraine is profitable in its battle with Russia.
“Now here’s what my view is: It’s not about this moment, it’s about the long-term outcome,” he mentioned. “It is in our interest as Americans to make sure that [Russian President Vladimir] Putin does not succeed dismembering Ukraine, because that will unleash China to tie Taiwan, and I think Putin will continue to go. It’s very important that I think President Zelensky make his case to President Biden today to change the military strategy, or Ukraine will be doomed, in my view, to failure.”
Zelensky is in Washington to fulfill with members of Congress in addition to Biden and Vice President Harris.
The Ukrainian chief’s go to to Pennsylvania with Shapiro, a finalist to be Harris’s operating mate, and different Democrats sparked criticism from a bunch of Republicans, together with Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) and Home Oversight and Accountability Committee Chair James Comer (R-Ky.).
Johnson has demanded that Zelensky hearth the Ukrainian ambassador to the U.S., and Comer has began an inquiry into the Ukrainian president’s go to to Pennsylvania.
“The facility was in a politically contested battleground state, was led by a top political surrogate for Kamala Harris, and failed to include a single Republican because – on purpose – no Republicans were invited. The tour was clearly a partisan campaign event designed to help Democrats and is clearly election interference,” Johnson wrote Wednesday to Zelensky.
Zelensky had a gathering with a bipartisan group of senators on Thursday, through which he advised the lawmakers that he may carry Russia to the negotiating desk within the upcoming yr if the Biden administration picks up the tempo on shipments of weapons to Ukraine and greenlights missile strikes farther into Russia.
“President Zelensky says he wants to end this war through negotiations,” Graham mentioned on the Capitol Thursday. “The only way [you’re gonna] get Russia to the table, is hit them harder than we’re hitting them today. His number one request was to have more permissive use of long-range missiles to hit legitimate military targets. He believes if he could shut down those Russian air bases and missile bases that are attacking his country, that would give him leverage to get [Putin] to the table. I believe that too.”
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