Trump Blocks GOP Platform Bill to Send Lethal Weapons to Ukraine

Pro-Trump campaigners have canceled a GOP pledge to supply Ukraine with lethal weapons during a committee platform meeting on national security, disturbing Republican hawks who have consistently called for a more aggressive anti-Russia posture.

On Monday, Republicans voted for the possible extension of existing anti-Russian sanctions, and the ability to provide authorities in Kiev with “appropriate [military] assistance.”

Earlier, many Republicans pushed for what they termed ‘lethal defensive weapons.’

The change to the amendment’s wording came at the hands of Trump delegates attending the GOP platform meeting in Cleveland. Trump-supporting delegates insisted that the language in the initial proposal be altered, and wrote a new amendment ruling out sending US weapons to Ukraine.

The corrected bill was passed at the meeting, to the anger of Republican security leaders who subsequently accused the former reality-TV producer of betraying the world’s democracies.

“This is another example of Trump being out of step with GOP leadership and the mainstream in a way that shows he would be dangerous for America and the world,” Rachel Hoff, a GOP platform committee member claimed, following the move.

Trump has repeatedly said that radical Islamism and terrorism is a greater threat to Europe than Russia. He said he would “get along very well” with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Mike Flynn, foreign policy advisor to Trump, has suggested that Moscow and Washington join forces to counter Daesh in the Middle East.

"Putin will be a reliable partner for certain things for the United States, yes. Absolutely. We need to have a relationship from the top to the bottom, same with China," Flynn told German magazine Spiegel Online.