Senate Foreign Relations Committee chair pushes for increased Ukraine aid

Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Ben Cardin (D-Md.) advocated for more aid to Ukraine in remarks on the Senate floor Thursday.

“this It's not a choice Send money to Ukraine or don't send it,” Cardin said. “The choice is whether to send American dollars to fight.'' [Russian President Vladimir] President Putin will send American soldiers to fight him now or later. If we want to maintain America's confidence in our allies, it's up to us. ”

“If we want to show our partners that we are here to help them in difficult times, it is up to us,” Cardan continued. “If we want to make sure America is on the right side of history, it's up to us.”

Senate Republicans who support sending aid to Ukraine and forging a deal with Democrats on border security are pinning their hopes on those close to former President Trump, hoping they can stop him from sinking. are doing.

Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), chairwoman of the Senate Republican Policy Committee, told colleagues who support the former president to refrain from disparaging the deal pending a review by lawmakers this week. I asked them to request it to stop.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) told his fellow Republican senators on Wednesday that passing border security reforms related to Ukraine is becoming more difficult than initially expected. He also noted that it may be impossible to overcome the former president's hostility to any border security agreement.

“I think he was saying out loud what a lot of people were thinking about this. [the negotiations] Since it started in October, we weren't in a presidential election year. This was a completely different moment. Right now, we're in the midst of primaries in a presidential election year. “This is a big campaign issue, and it's kind of wrapped up in this whole discussion,” said Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.) about the Ukraine aid and border security package.