Bill Keating Asks Experts To 'Straighten The Record' On European Support For Ukraine

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During a House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing last week, Rep. Bill Keating (D-MA) spoke about European support for Ukraine.

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00:00Thank you, Mr. Chairman. There's a lot of misinformation, I believe, that's going

00:08around the U.S. and around the world regarding the commitment of our NATO allies, our European

00:14allies, in fact, the 50 country allies that all are working as one to defeat Russian aggression

00:24in Ukraine. So I'd like, Ambassador Smith, could you take some time and straighten the

00:29record out here? I mean, the contribution from Europe is extraordinary. So if you could

00:36take some time and correct some of those misconceptions.

00:39MS. Yes, thank you very much. There are some folks out there that believe that the

00:46U.S. has been supporting Ukraine over these last three and a half years largely in isolation,

00:53and that's simply not the case. Our European allies have given an enormous amount of support

00:58to Ukraine. They've housed millions of refugees. They've provided critical economic and humanitarian

01:04support, but they have sent weapons. Some countries have sent them everything they had, the Baltics,

01:11the Poles, a country like Romania that sent essentially all of its air defense. These contributions

01:17have been critical to what Ukraine has been able to do to defend its territory against Russian

01:22aggression. So I completely appreciate your point. I think it's important for folks to

01:27understand that this has been an effort not just with our European allies, but with 50 countries

01:33around the world. Secretary Austin, when he was Secretary of Defense, regularly convened 50 countries

01:40from around the world, including friends in the Indo-Pacific, to each month send more critical

01:47support to our friends in Ukraine. One of those meetings is happening today, and the U.S. Secretary

01:54of Defense will not be attending the UDCG, the Ukraine Defense Contact Group. That is a shame

02:02in my mind. It's a group that requires U.S. leadership at the highest levels, and the United States started

02:09this group, and it needs to continue to lead it.

02:13Yeah, the contact group is essential. And in fact, it's a way the U.S. is leveraging, you

02:21know, their assets around the world, too. And so I think it's critical in that regard. I also

02:29wanted to just touch base. The Russian elections that occurred in where they voted to have legitimate

02:41control over areas of Ukraine in violation of every international law that you could think of. How would

02:51you categorize those elections?

02:53Well, it's a pretty short answer, Representative. It was a sham. And we cannot allow this to stand. We – in

03:02my mind, we cannot allow Russia to come in and make these assumptions and claims that the Zelenskyy

03:11administration is somehow a Nazi regime, that this territory that they're currently occupying belongs to

03:20Russia, that they have a right to own Crimea. None of this adheres to Ukraine's very clear

03:28territorial integrity and sovereignty. And we have to continue to stand up and push back against those

03:34types of Russian assertions.

03:36Speaking of elections, in World War II, with martial law declared in U.K., they did not have elections,

03:43did they not? Correct. Correct. And someone familiar with the Ukraine Constitution?

03:48Right. Right now, under martial law, they are not holding –

03:52The martial law was called because of the Russian aggression.

03:54Because of the war. Correct.

03:56But their constitution would not allow that, even if they wanted to have that. Is that correct?

04:00Indeed.

04:01Admiral Montgomery, I don't think we spend enough time talking about

04:05Putin and who he really is. You mentioned that in some of your remarks. And we were looking at

04:13this negotiation that's going on, which is, you know, negotiation is always a good thing.

04:18Talking is always a good thing. But how would you categorize Putin's response to these negotiations?

04:26The offer at Istanbul last week was an insult to President Trump. President Trump has told

04:32President Putin several times, come to the table with a serious deal. And he's told him, stop doing

04:38the – you know, Vladimir, stop doing the bombing. I thought there was a potential this time there

04:41would be a reasonable response. But instead, it was, you know, just a laundry list of every

04:48illegitimate Russian claim to Ukraine and every ridiculous request that they basically neuter

04:55themselves, demilitarize, and take no Western support. It was an absolute insult to President Trump,

05:01who has given President Putin more than enough time to come to the right answer.

05:06Great.

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