U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ), who met with Ukraine President Petro Poroshenko in Kiev yesterday, strongly maintains that the United States government should supply arms to the Ukraine in the midst of their ongoing conflict with Russia.
By John Heinis/Hudson County View
“We need to give the Ukrainians the wherewithal to defend themselves,†against Russian-backed separatists, Menendez told The Star-Ledger in a phone interview.
“I know we’ve provided them with night vision goggles, but it doesn’t do much good to see the enemy and not be able to stop them.â€
Menendez, the Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, is reportedly pushing for a joint session with Congress on September 18, when Poroshenko is expected to be in Washington after accepting an invitation from President Obama.
As the Ledger also reported, Menendez penned a letter to Obama on Saturday, urging our nation’s leader to act swiftly – and decisively – in light of Russia entering Eastern Ukraine for the first time on Thursday.
Russia first annexed Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula back in March, and since then, Menendez has continued to push for harsh international sanctions in the matter.
Menendez, a former Union City mayor who recently moved to Paramus, was actually on the short-list of federal lawmakers banned from Russia after the U.S. issued economic sanctions against Russia for the annexation, per NJ.com.
Thanks for this report, John Heinis. While Ukraine has been Russia’s “bread basket” for centuries, Russia does not have the license to redraw Ukraine’s borders. Menendez will be our next Vice President or Secretary of State.