OPINION: U.S. restraints on Ukraine hamstring its defense against Putin’s war
Ukraine’s recent cross-border attack on Russia highlights a serious problem in its ability to defend against Vladimir Putin’s genocidal war. The U.S and its NATO allies recognized the grave threat that the war posed against their collective national security interests and correctly responded by supplying weapons to the beleaguered nation. Senator Jim Risch has repeatedly said that Putin’s war poses a serious threat to America’s national security. He told columnist Chuck Malloy: “If we abandon Ukraine and throw in the towel…there will be major consequences.” Getting out of Ukraine, “I believe, would set up the largest arms race that the planet has ever seen.”
Unfortunately, we have conditioned our aid on the unreasonable restriction that U.S. supplied equipment and munitions may not be deployed on Russian soil. We have gradually loosened the restriction, but have usually made known just how far Ukrainian operations can extend into Russian territory. The Russians have no such restrictions. We should lift all restrictions on our aid, allowing the Ukrainians to strike any targets in Russia that Putin uses to support his war. And, we should start supplying Ukraine with longer-range weaponry to take out those targets.
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