WASHINGTON — A bipartisan group of U.S. senators pushed Thursday to send arms to Ukraine, saying in a Capitol Hill news conference that the United States needs to send “defensive, lethal” weapons to the country to help stem fresh offensives by Russian-backed separatists.
Sending arms would be a step beyond what many European allies support, and the senators offered no estimates of how far Americans should be willing to go in a new proxy war against Russia or how much the nation should be willing to pay. The White House has already committed to send $118 million in non-lethal assistance to Ukraine.
“The United States and our allies must deter further Russian aggression by providing defensive, lethal assistance,” said Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee. He said that legislation would be offered soon to allow for the nation to send arms.
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“The key here is to give the Ukrainians the ability to defend their territory and also to move back to a political solution,” said Reed.
Several pointed to an agreement signed 20 years ago called the Budapest Memorandum, in which the United States, Russia and Britain offered assurances to respect the sovereignty and borders of Ukraine. They also noted that the United States has promised to shield other allies along Russia’s borders.
“We gave our word. And what is the cost if we don’t keep our word that we will be there to protect our friend?” said Sen. Joe Donnelly (D-Ind.) “Everybody in the region is scared to death, is afraid of what Vladimir Putin is going to do, and if at some point we don’t stand up for our friends, it will only get worse.”
