“Providing lethal weapons to Ukraine will send a clear message that America stands with the Ukrainian people in their nearly four year struggle to secure a democratic, prosperous and independent future for Ukraine in the face of Russian aggression.
“The final interagency approval and formal notification of Congress marks another important milestone towards the fulfillment of America’s promise to stand with Ukraine. As co-founder and co-chair of the Senate Ukraine Caucus and author of several provisions authorizing expanded U.S. military assistance – including lethal aid – and establishing the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, I look forward to the full implementation of the bipartisan legislation Congress has already passed to help the Ukrainians defend themselves against Russian aggression.”
– Sen. Robert Portman (R-Ohio), in a news release dated March 2.
“…The past seven decades have repeatedly shown just how necessary it was for the West to form the NATO Alliance. There is no major foreign policy challenge in the world today in which either the United States or Europe can expect to succeed without one another. …
“America must continue to take responsibility for Western security. That means maintaining our strong capabilities and retaining a strong forward posture in Europe. But it also means engaging our allies in active diplomacy and fighting to maintain trans-Atlantic unity. America’s leaders in both the executive and congressional branches must also engage our own citizens and continually educate our public why it matters to everyday Americans what happens in the Baltics or Balkans and why national security is indissolubly linked to that of Europe. …
“Ten years have now passed since Russia invaded Georgia and NATO issued the Bucharest Summit Pledge to aspirant members. Four years have passed since Russia invaded Ukraine, where more than 10,000 people have now died as a result of Russian aggression. Under Vladimir Putin’s leadership, Russia has demonstrated its ability to not just threaten and invade neighbors but spread chaos, disinformation and disruptive influence into the very heart of Western societies. This, together with the ongoing challenges of terrorism and migration from Europe’s Southern Frontier, show that NATO’s role is more relevant today than at any time since the high point of the Cold War.
“The Senate NATO Observers Group is an important tool for engaging and strengthening NATO at this crucial time. When it was created in 1997, the group focused on NATO enlargement, burden sharing, and military modernization. Today, those remain timely issues, but they have been joined by new concerns over disinformation, terrorism and cybersecurity. Legislatures here and in Europe have a key role to play in increasing Western nations’ readiness for responding to this task. …
“The relaunching of the Senate NATO Observers Group demonstrates America’s determination to retain, defend and renew the Atlantic Alliance as the bedrock of not only trans-Atlantic security, but of our own national security and the stability of the wider world.”
– Assistant Secretary of State A. Wess Mitchell of the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs, speaking to the Senate NATO Observers Group in Washington on February 28.