“U.S. policy toward Ukraine is in urgent need of an overhaul, and President Obama himself needs to lead the charge. …

“Congress has passed several pieces of legislation by large bipartisan majorities calling for the provision of lethal arms to Ukraine, and virtually every member of the Cabinet as well as his vice-president support such a step; President Obama is the lone holdout. …

“It’s worth recalling the 1994 Budapest Memorandum, in which Ukraine agreed to surrender the nuclear weapons it inherited from the collapse of the USSR in exchange for a pledge from the other signatories… that they would uphold and respect Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. …We should live up to our end of the deal by complying with the Ukrainian pleas for defensive weapons; they are not asking for U.S. troops on the ground but the means by which to defend themselves.

“…most Western leaders have visited Kyiv at least once to show Ukrainians their support. Could Obama not have tacked on a quick visit while in Europe, for example after his recent trip to Paris?

“… Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine almost two years ago, President Obama has met with Putin more times than he has with Poroshenko, despite asserting in January [2015] in his State of the Union speech that he is leading efforts to isolate Russia. An Obama visit to Kyiv to demonstrate solidarity with the Ukrainian people would be a huge boost to Ukraine – there is, after all, nothing like Air Force One landing in one’s country and all that comes with it. …”

– David J. Kramer, senior director for Human Rights and Democracy at the McCain Institute for International Leadership, “U.S. Policy to Ukraine in Need of Urgent Fix,” in The American Interest on December 4, 2015 (http://www.the-american-interest.com/2015/12/04/u-s-policy-to-ukraine-in-need-of-urgent-fix/).