WASHINGTON — Members of Congress emphasized on Sunday what has become a widely held position on Capitol Hill: that the United States sho...
WASHINGTON — Members of Congress emphasized on Sunday what has become a widely held position on Capitol Hill: that the United States should respond to The Russian invasion of Ukraine by banning imports of Russian oil, but not by imposing a no-fly zone about the country that could drag the nuclear powers into war.
Both Republican and Democratic lawmakers have taken this position on various Sunday morning television news programs.
“It makes no sense to keep buying oil from Russia which they are using to fund this war and this murderous campaign they are undertaking,” said Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, the lead Republican on the Senate committee. intelligence, on CNN’s “State of the Union.” He added that there was support to provide Ukraine with supplies and aircraft after the country’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskymade the request to Congress on Saturday.
But Mr Rubio and others said the risks of the United States imposing a no-fly zone over Ukraine – as Mr Zelensky also called for – were too great. On ABC’s “This Week,” Rubio said the move would draw the United States directly into the war between Ukraine and Russia, triggering a conflict between two nuclear-armed powers.
“It means starting World War III,” Mr Rubio said, adding that “people have to understand what a no-fly zone means. It’s not a rule that you adopt and everyone has to obey. This is the will to shoot down the planes of the Russian Federation.
Senator Christopher S. Murphy, Democrat of Connecticut, agreed on “Fox News Sunday”: “I don’t think it’s in our interest, the interest of Europe, to have the United States and the Russia – the two largest and most equipped nuclear countries in the world”. superpowers – warring directly against each other.
Murphy said he expected Congress to pass a $10 billion emergency spending bill this week to provide more arms and humanitarian aid to Ukraine, in response to requests for additional support from Ukrainian officials.
The $10 billion proposal includes $4.8 billion in additional funds for the Pentagon to cover the deployment of US troops to NATO countries, increased intelligence and cybersecurity support and to replenish weapons of the Ministry of Defence. has already sent to Ukraine, such as Stinger missiles. It also includes $4.25 billion in new funds for economic and humanitarian aid to Ukrainians, including the 1.5 million refugees who have already fled the bombed nation.
“We need to make sure we are strengthening Ukraine and providing as much lethal aid as possible,” Senator Joni Ernst, Republican from Iowa, said on “Fox News Sunday,” adding that the United States should also strengthen humanitarian aid, “ensuring that we are able to meet the needs of the refugees who will flood into Europe.”
There was one notable exception to the rejection of the no-fly zone proposal. Sen. Joe Manchin III, Democrat of West Virginia, said on NBC’s “Meet The Press,” “I wouldn’t take anything off the table.”
“For us to hesitate, or for anyone to hesitate in the free world, it is wrong,” Mr. Manchin said of taking further steps to try to deter Russian aggression.
The comments came a day after Mr Zelensky spoke with over 300 members of Congressimploring them to ban the import of Russian oil and send more jets to his country.
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