Source: United States Senator for Ohio Rob Portman
December 9, 2021 | Press Releases
WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Senators Rob Portman (R-OH), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Chris Murphy (D-CT) met with Oksana Markarova, Ambassador of Ukraine to the U.S., and Ukrainian Members of Parliament yesterday to discuss the recent uptick in Russian aggression towards Ukraine.
The group discussed pressing national security issues including Russia’s further escalation of troops at the Ukraine border and the need for the United States to send a clear message to Russian President Putin be providing more funding for lethal defensive weapons for Ukraine. This meeting with key members of the Ukrainian government came after classified briefings on the Russian buildup to Congress and a hearing on Russian policy where the Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs, Ambassador Victoria Nuland expressed the United States’ policy to provide unwavering support for the sovereignty of Ukraine.
“I appreciated our visit with Ambassador Markarova and multiple members of Ukraine’s Parliament. In the face of a progressively more belligerent and revisionist Russia, Ukraine is a critical strategic security partner and they have become increasingly under threat by Russia over the past months,” said Portman. “The United States must do all it can to support Ukraine and make clear to Russia under no uncertain terms that there will be serious consequences if they were to invade Ukraine. I encourage the Administration to do everything possible to continue to provide Ukraine with the military capabilities it needs to defend itself as well as garnering international support to stand firm in the face of Russian aggression.”
“There is bipartisan resolve in the Senate to stand by our Ukrainian partners amid Russia’s military escalation. I was glad to reaffirm that message with fellow lawmakers of the Senate Ukraine Caucus yesterday in a meeting with members of Ukraine’s parliament. The U.S. will not turn a blind eye to Putin’s belligerence against our key partners, like Ukraine,” said Shaheen.
“I will never forget walking the Maidan Square with the late Senator John McCain and seeing the memorials for those killed in protest for a more democratic and free Ukraine. That such a simple human aspiration is seen as a continued threat by President Putin shows his misreading of history. He should not doubt bipartisan resolve in the United States Senate to stand firm with the Ukrainian people against further military aggression,” said Durbin.
“As Putin increases the Russian military presence along the Ukrainian border, Congress should be crystal clear in reaffirming our bipartisan support for Kyiv. That’s exactly what we did this week when meeting with the Ukrainian delegation,” said Murphy.
NOTE: As co-founder and co-chairman of the Senate Ukraine Caucus, Portman has visited Ukraine several times. Senators Portman, Shaheen, and Murphy traveled to Ukraine in June of this year, as part of a bipartisan congressional delegation, where they met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and other Ukrainian government officials. During the meetings, the senators reaffirmed the United States’ solidarity with Ukraine against Russian aggression and its right to sovereignty and territorial integrity, as well as encourage progress on democratic reforms. In May of 2019, after a historic free and open election, Senator Portman met with President Zelensky and other senior Ukrainian officials to further the strategic US/Ukrainian partnership. He traveled to the eastern part of Ukraine in April 2018 to see firsthand evidence of Russian aggression on the line of contact. In 2014, he led a congressional election observation mission with Senator Ben Cardin (D-MD) during Ukraine’s Presidential election. For his efforts to support Ukraine, Portman was recognized with the Order Of St. Volodymyr Medal from Ukrainian Patriarch Filaret. Portman also championed the bipartisan resolution marking the 85th anniversary of the Holodomor, passed by the Senate in October 2018. Senator Portman has also received the Order of Merit from former President Petro Poroshenko during his visit to Ukraine in 2018 and the Ukrainian-American community’s highest honor in 2016, the Shevchenko Freedom Award.
Pictures from the meeting are below:
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