Ayotte Statement Regarding Brzezinski's Support for Providing Weapons to Ukraine

Press Release

U.S. Senator Kelly Ayotte released this statement today following a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on U.S. national security strategy that included testimony from former national security advisor, Dr. Zbigniew Brzezinski:

In response to a question from Ayotte, Brzezinski said, "I think deterrence has to have meaning. It has to have teeth in it....And the only way to do that is to indicate to [Putin] by tangible steps such as defensive arming of the Ukrainians that we will be involved in some fashion in making that military engagement more costly."

After the hearing, Senator Ayotte said, "Four months ago, President Poroshenko stood before a Joint Session of Congress, in the same place that President Obama did last night, and pleaded for the United States to provide the weapons Ukraine needs to defend itself against Russian aggression. President Poroshenko correctly said freedom cannot be defended with blankets. With Crimea securely in Moscow's hands, Russian troops in eastern Ukraine, and Russian weapons reportedly again flowing into Ukraine, President Obama last night inexplicably cited his administration's response to Putin's aggression in Ukraine as a success story."

She continued: "While sanctions have hurt the Russian economy, sanctions alone have been insufficient and have failed to achieve their objective. Consistent with the statement of policy contained in the Ukraine Freedom Support Act of 2014, which the President signed into law last month, the United States should provide Ukraine the long-requested and much-needed weapons required to defend itself. When it comes to providing weapons to Ukraine, if the administration continues to ignore the bipartisan will of Congress, as well as the advice of foreign policy experts like Dr. Brzezinski, it will only invite Putin to undertake further aggression."

On August 6, 2014, in response to a question about providing lethal assistance to Ukraine, the President said, "Now, if you start seeing an invasion by Russia, that's obviously a different set of questions. We're not there yet."

General Philip Breedlove, the Commander of U.S. European Command, said on November 12, 2014, "We have seen columns of Russian equipment, primarily Russian tanks, Russian artillery, Russian air defense systems, and Russian combat troops entering Ukraine."

Yesterday, Ukrainian officials said that Ukrainian army units were reportedly attacked by regular Russian forces in eastern Ukraine as Russian motorized infantry battalions headed to the Ukrainian border.

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