WASHINGTON — Republican lawmakers harassed their assist for Ukraine as President Donald Trump, the chief of their get together, hurled stunning assaults in opposition to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, gorgeous European allies and showing to upend many years of U.S. assist for victims of Russian aggression.
“There is no moral equivalency between Vladimir Putin and President Zelenskyy. President Putin is evil, and he has to be stopped,” Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), who visited Ukraine over the weekend as a part of a bipartisan congressional delegation, instructed reporters on Wednesday.
The North Carolina Republican known as the Russian president “a murderous dictator who started this war, ordered the occupation, and now the souls of tens of thousands of Ukrainians are lost on his watch.”
“He has lied every step of the way, and I believe any resolution in Ukraine that makes him feel like he won or just pushed to a tie is a bad idea,” Tillis added.
Trump used his Fact Social platform on Wednesday to lash out at Zelenskyy and name the Ukrainian a “dictator without elections” who has “done a terrible job” defending his nation. Ukraine hasn’t had elections since martial legislation was put in place after Russia invaded its territory three years in the past and launched a lethal bombing marketing campaign that persists at the moment.
Trump’s broadside adopted Zelenskyy’s remark that the U.S. president was being influenced by Russian disinformation after Trump falsely claimed that Ukraine began the struggle with Russia.
“You’ve been there for three years. You should have ended it. You should have never started it,” Trump stated of Zelenskyy at an occasion on the White Home.
The change between the 2 presidents got here after U.S. and Russian officers met in Saudi Arabia to barter a settlement to finish the struggle. Ukrainian and European officers weren’t included within the conferences, regardless of their insistence that they need to be a part of any such discussions, and U.S. officers left open the potential of ceding Ukraine’s territory to Russia and made requests of Ukraine to agree handy over assets like uncommon earth minerals to the U.S.
Evelyn Hockstein/Pool Photograph through AP
Most Republican lawmakers stated they disagreed with the notion that Ukraine began the struggle with Russia.
“When it comes to blame for the Russian invasion of Ukraine, I blame Putin above all others,” Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), a high Trump ally who additionally met with Zelenskyy over the weekend, wrote in a social media submit. Graham gushed on the Ukrainian president throughout their assembly, “You’re the ally I’ve been hoping for all my life.”
Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.), one other Trump ally, known as Putin “a gangster” and “an evil person.” He too stated he disagreed with the notion that Ukraine one way or the other began the struggle with Russia.
And Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) heaped reward on Zelenskyy, calling him “the duly elected” president of Ukraine.
“I think he has been a key component in the fact that they’ve been able to withstand the Russian attacks,” Rounds stated.
Different Republicans have been extra forceful of their condemnation of Trump’s feedback. Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.), a reasonable centrist, stated Putin is a dictator who murdered his political opponents. He then went on to fact-check the remainder of Trump’s claims in his Wednesday social media submit.
“The EU nations have contributed more to Ukraine,” Bacon wrote. “Zelensky polls over 50%. Ukraine wants to be part of the West, Putin hates the West. I don’t accept George Orwell’s doublethink.”
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However different Republicans have been extra deferential to Trump, suggesting his strategy was centered on securing a peace settlement.
“I think right now, the administration, the president and his team are working to achieve that. And I think, right now, you got to give them some space,” Senate Majority Chief John Thune (R-S.D.) stated at a weekly press briefing on Wednesday.
Requested if he agreed with Trump that Zelenskyy is a dictator, Thune stated, “The president speaks for himself. What I want to see is a peaceful result, a peaceful outcome.”
