- Sputnik International
World
Get the latest news from around the world, live coverage, off-beat stories, features and analysis.

McCain Threatens Obama With Bill Requiring US to Send Arms to Ukraine

© AP Photo / Cliff OwenJohn "the Grump" McCain on Capitol Hill in Janurary.
John the Grump McCain on Capitol Hill in Janurary. - Sputnik International
Subscribe
US Congress will write legislation obliging the Pentagon to supply Ukraine with arms, if President Barack Obama does not move to send weapons, Republican Senator John McCain said on Thursday.

Sen. John McCain - Sputnik International
Senator McCain Says Lack of US Forces in Baltics Could Mean ‘End of NATO’
McCain led a bipartisan group of US senators at a news conference in pressing the Obama administration to send arms to the war-torn country, fighting a bloody civil war in its east against anti-Kiev rebels. 

“United States must act with urgency to provide defensive lethal assistance to Ukraine,” McCain said.

McCain pointed that willingness to provide weapons to Kiev was an “overwhelming bipartisan consensus,” and that the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) members will work on a legislation to call for the action again.

“Such defensive weapons could include anti-tank weapons and counter-battery radar systems,” US Senator Jack Reed said.

U.S. Sen. John McCain speaks during a press conference in Kiev, Ukraine - Sputnik International
World
What Would Happen If McCain Armed Ukraine?
The United States should not be the only provider of weapons, however, SASC members pointed, adding that the country should work on this issue together with North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) allies.

On Wednesday US Defense Secretary nominee Ashton Carter also said that he supported sending lethal weapons to Kiev.

Deputy National Security Advisor Ben Rhodes however announced earlier that supplying weapons was not the way to end the Ukrainian crisis.

The armed conflict in eastern Ukraine began in April 2014, when Kiev-led forces launched a military operation against the region’s mostly Russian-speaking independence supporters who opposed Ukraine’s new post-coup government.

Newsfeed
0
To participate in the discussion
log in or register
loader
Chats
Заголовок открываемого материала