A group of Republicans and Democrats joined forces to express their concerns in a letter sent to the White House on Tuesday.
A bipartisan group of Senators is urging the Trump administration to release security assistance funds for Ukraine meant to keep Russia at bay.
In a letter sent to White House acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney on Tuesday, the Senate’s Ukraine Caucus — a group of three Democrats and two Republicans — called the funds “vital to the long term viability of the Ukrainian military.”
The financial assistance, which helped Ukraine acquire lethal military tools, has been held up in recent weeks for unknown reasons, as POLITICO first reported. White House officials have said they are simply reviewing the issue to ensure the money is being spent in line with America’s interests, but former officials and national security specialists are skeptical about the vague explanation.
The move has irked lawmakers and national security veterans, who argue that the United States must make a sustained commitment to countering Russia’s military aggression in the region and show that it stands with Ukraine. Russia annexed the Crimea region of Ukraine in 2014.
The security funding “has helped Ukraine develop the independent military capabilities and skills necessary to fend off the Kremlin’s continued onslaughts within its territory,” the senators wrote in their letter, which is signed by Democratic Sens. Jeanne Shaheen, Dick Durbin and Richard Blumenthal, as well as Republican Sens. Rob Portman and Ron Johnson.
“U.S.-funded security assistance has already helped turn the tide in this conflict, and it is necessary to ensure the protection of the sovereign territory of this young country, going forward,” they added.
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GOP senators are now urging Trump to maintain Ukraine security funding. A senior admin official told us the president “has made no secret when it comes to foreign assistance that U.S. interests abroad should be prioritized.” https://t.co/NpUGPs7pRk
— POLITICO (@politico) September 4, 2019
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