Kaptur Urges Support for Ukraine
September 3, 2014
CLEVELAND (September 3, 2014) -- Appearing this morning on CNN, Congresswoman Kaptur urged the U.S. to provide military and intelligence assistance to Ukraine in the face of Russian aggression.
"This is one of those moments in history where that kind of decision has to be made," said Congresswoman Kaptur on "New Day" with Kate Bolduan.
Kaptur, a co-chair of the Congressional Ukraine Caucus, has sponsored the Ukraine Security Assistance Act of 2014 (H.R. 5190).
Economic sanctions, she said, are long-term measures. "We need short-term actions that help the Ukrainian people defend themselves…Europe left them defenseless. The NATO structure was not effective in terms of allowing nations like Ukraine to easily come into a security umbrella. I think we need that new security umbrella. I think it will involve nations like Estonia, obviously nations like Poland, and hopefully Ukraine.
"There's always been a division in Ukraine as to whether or not the political parties there wanted to support accession to NATO. There was also a reluctance on Europe's part to take on some of the economic and military and social challenges of Ukraine.
"But this is one of those moments in history where that kind of decision has to be made."
Kaptur expressed skepticism about reports of a ceasefire agreement. "I don't think there's any evidence on the ground that anything's changed," since Russian invaded Ukraine from the east.
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"This is one of those moments in history where that kind of decision has to be made," said Congresswoman Kaptur on "New Day" with Kate Bolduan.
Kaptur, a co-chair of the Congressional Ukraine Caucus, has sponsored the Ukraine Security Assistance Act of 2014 (H.R. 5190).
Economic sanctions, she said, are long-term measures. "We need short-term actions that help the Ukrainian people defend themselves…Europe left them defenseless. The NATO structure was not effective in terms of allowing nations like Ukraine to easily come into a security umbrella. I think we need that new security umbrella. I think it will involve nations like Estonia, obviously nations like Poland, and hopefully Ukraine.
"There's always been a division in Ukraine as to whether or not the political parties there wanted to support accession to NATO. There was also a reluctance on Europe's part to take on some of the economic and military and social challenges of Ukraine.
"But this is one of those moments in history where that kind of decision has to be made."
Kaptur expressed skepticism about reports of a ceasefire agreement. "I don't think there's any evidence on the ground that anything's changed," since Russian invaded Ukraine from the east.
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