WASHINGTON – U.S. Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio), co-chair of the Senate Ukraine Caucus, hosted the first Senate Ukraine Caucus meeting on February 26. The event, hosted by Sens. Portman and Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), was attended by a bipartisan group of senators, including Mark Kirk (R-Ill.), Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.), Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) and Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), as well as two members of Ukraine’s Parliament and Ukraine’s ambassador to the United States.
The group discussed the need for the United States to provide greater support to Ukraine, including increased military assistance, as the Ukrainian people continue to face Russian aggression.
“I was pleased to have the opportunity to host members of the Ukrainian Parliament to highlight the dire need for increased military aid to Ukraine,” Sen. Portman stated. “We heard first-hand about the need for lethal weapons and a more proactive and sustained American strategy to help Ukraine stand up to Russian aggression. I appreciate Deputy Speaker [Andriy] Parubiy, Ukrainian Member of Parliament [Oleksiy] Skrypnyk, Ambassador [Olexander] Motsyk and the other members of the Ukrainian delegation attending the meeting and look forward to remaining in close touch on these critical issues.”
Sen. Portman recently led a bipartisan group of senators in urging President Obama and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization to rapidly increase military assistance to Ukraine to defend its sovereign borders against escalating Russian aggression.