It's imperative that humanitarian and lethal aid get to Ukraine to help the Ukrainian military defeat Russian invaders, Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, told Newsmax on Tuesday.
Ernst led a bipartisan Senate delegation trip to Poland and Germany during the weekend.
"We were able to see one of these refugee welcome centers, and honestly, it was pretty darn heartbreaking to see these women and children ... these elderly people that had no homes ... and they had very little hope," Ernst said on "Wake Up America."
"We did hear from the Ukrainians that the MiG-29s, the surface-to-air missiles, Stingers, the Javelins, you name it, we should be providing them all of the above and making sure that again, we're not just holding the status quo in Ukraine, but that they can actually defeat the Russians. They can.
"The Ukrainians have the will to fight. They stated that they will fight to the last man to keep their country free."
The senator added that the refugees who have arrived in Poland are "comforted" and they "feel better in Poland" because it is a NATO country, and that if it were to be attacked, that would trigger the Article Five collective defense agreement and "we would all join in the fight."
Ernst added: "But we do believe that [Russian President Vladimir] Putin has ideas about continuing, especially in Moldova. They are extremely concerned that if Ukraine should be taken down by the Russians that they will continue into that country … but again, they really want to go home. We want to make sure that they can."
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Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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