By BRENT MARTIN
St. Joseph Post
The Biden administration has announced another billion-dollar aid package for Ukraine; only a portion of which is military aid.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced the package during a trip to Ukraine to assess the country’s counteroffensive to repel Russian forces.
Northern Missouri Congressman Sam Graves, a Republican, supports the Biden administration’s move to shore up Ukraine’s military force and supply aid to the war-torn country.
“People criticize me because of my support in giving Ukraine the resources that they need,” Graves says. “But, here’s the thing, that worries me. If Russia moves through Ukraine and then they go into the Baltic states, and that’s Estonia, Lithuania, and Latvia, they are a part of NATO which means we will have boots on the ground and we will have men and women in uniform in there fighting the Russians.”
Graves says the United States has a vested interest in the war in Ukraine if nothing else than to stop Russia from attacking a NATO country.
“We have to do everything we can to prevent them from ever doing that and that is Ukraine,” according to Graves.
The latest aid package to Ukraine includes $275 million for the military, with the majority to help provide food and aid to the Ukrainian people.
Graves says the war in Ukraine is much more of a problem for the United States than most might realize.
“Because if they go into a NATO country, it’s a big problem for the United States, a big problem,” according to Graves.
Graves is puzzled the Biden administration has been hesitant to supply Ukraine with F-16 fighter jets.
“When it comes to decisions like that, I have a hard time questioning the president on them, because I don’t know what intelligence that he is getting that is contrary to what I’m getting.”
A Russian missile tore through an outdoor market in eastern Ukraine, killing 17 people and wounding dozens. The attack unfolded Wednesday as Secretary of State Blinken returned to the country with more than $1 billion in new American funding for Ukraine. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy condemned the Russian attack on a civilian target. Blinken’s visit was aimed at assessing Ukraine’s 3-month-old counteroffensive and signaling continued U.S. support as some Western allies express worries about Kyiv’s slow progress against invading Russian forces.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.