US senators visit Odesa for first time since 2022
A delegation of US senators has visited Odesa for the first time since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Source: US Senate Foreign Relations Committee, as reported by European Pravda
Details: US Senators Jeanne Shaheen, Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Sheldon Whitehouse, Chris Coons and Richard Blumenthal visited Odesa, where they reaffirmed unwavering bipartisan support for Ukraine in the US Congress and among the American people.
This marks the first visit by a Senate delegation to Odesa since the beginning of the full-scale Russian invasion in 2022.
Members of the delegation stressed the urgent need for Congress to impose tough sanctions on Russia and provide additional support to Ukraine in order to force Kremlin ruler Vladimir Putin to come to the negotiating table.
They also underlined that the administration of US President Donald Trump must finally exert real pressure on Putin to secure a lasting and just peace for Ukraine.
During the visit, the delegation met with Ukrainian government and military officials, Ukrainian border guard personnel, port and maritime security leaders in Odesa Oblast, US agricultural and logistics companies operating in Ukraine as well as local religious, civic and private-sector leaders.
Quote from Shaheen: "The path to peace requires sustained pressure on Vladimir Putin – not pressure on Ukraine to concede its sovereignty. Every day that the Trump Administration fails to act to meaningfully bring Vladimir Putin to the negotiating table, more innocent Ukrainians will die needlessly. It is long past due for President Trump to tighten sanctions on Russia, provide security assistance for Ukraine and to exert real pressure on Russia.
Until President Trump finally gets tough, Putin will continue to string him along. If the president refuses to act, Congress must. My bipartisan legislation to crack down on Russia's shadow fleet and its Chinese enablers has already cleared the Senate Foreign Relations Committee with wide support. This legislation is ready to move to the Senate floor the moment we return next week and would pass with overwhelming bipartisan backing. Doing so would send an unmistakable message to Putin that time is not on his side."
Details: Blumenthal said the trip has convinced him that doubling support is necessary for Ukraine's fighting capacity and for peace.
"The false narrative that Russia is winning must be dispelled. Ukraine's fight is our fight. They can win it," he added.
Background:
- On 17 February, Ukraine's Deputy Energy Minister Anatolii Kutsevol and US senators Richard Blumenthal and Sheldon Whitehouse visited a combined heat and power plant in Kyiv that had been damaged in Russian attacks.
- At a press conference in Kyiv, Blumenthal said Russia is deliberately targeting US-owned businesses in Ukraine.
- He also said the US should provide more military assistance to Ukraine, as Putin is not interested in ending the war.
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