McCaul, Fitzpatrick call on administration to fully back Ukraine against Russia

U.S. Reps. Michael McCaul (R-TX), ranking member of the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee, and Brian Fitzpatrick, ranking member of the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Europe, Energy, the Environment, and Cyber, led their GOP subcommittee members in calling on the Biden administration to do more to demonstrate its support for Ukraine’s territorial integrity and sovereignty.

President Joe Biden’s recent decisions regarding U.S. policy toward Russia —  including greenlighting the Russian pipeline project Nord Stream 2 — have projected weakness and undermined U.S. credibility with allies and partners, according to a Nov. 15 letter the members sent to U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

“Continued weakness from this administration will only invite more brazen Russian aggression,” the lawmakers wrote. “With approximately 90,000 Russian troops and a significant amount of Russian military equipment currently sitting on Ukraine’s border, failing to project strength now would have disastrous consequences.”

Among the members who joined Reps. McCaul and Fitzpatrick in signing the letter were subcommittee members U.S. Reps. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL), Ann Wagner (R-MO), Brian Mast (R-FL), and Peter Meijer (R-MI).

They also argued that the Biden administration must recognize “the futility and danger of its policy to build ‘a stable and predictable relationship’ with Russia,” according to their letter. 

“The Putin regime’s destabilizing military buildup near Ukraine is just the latest illustration that the Russian president has absolutely no intention of improving relations with the United States,” they wrote. “Instead, the Putin regime will continue to exploit the administration’s concessions and push for dialogue over strong action in pursuit of this policy.”

The members also warned that if gas is allowed to flow through the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, it will increase Putin’s aggression against Kyiv because Russia would no longer require Ukraine’s gas transmission system to export gas to Western Europe.

In order to deter further Russian aggression against Kyiv, the lawmakers urged that the administration consider increasing U.S. security assistance to Kyiv and ensuring U.S. allies and partners do the same; rally European allies to join the United States in pressuring the Putin regime against launching a new military offensive against Ukraine; provide Ukraine and Georgia a clear path to NATO membership; and bolster the U.S. presence in the Black Sea, among other considerations.

“Failing to stand firmly with our strategic partner Ukraine would do irrevocable damage to America’s ability to deter our adversaries as well as to the perception of the United States as a credible and trustworthy ally on the world’s stage,” the subcommittee members wrote. “It is time for action; it is time for strength, not weakness.”