Kansas senators to travel to Poland and Germany for insights on war in Ukraine
Kansas Sens. Roger Marshall and Jerry Moran announced Wednesday they will travel to Poland and Germany over the weekend to gain insight on the ongoing war in Ukraine.
“I think it’s always better to see things in person, what’s really going on,” Marshall said. “I’m especially interested in talking to the 1st Infantry Division soldiers that are there from Fort Riley. They’ve been in Poland for quite some time. So I just want to know what the real threat to our national security is there as well.”
Moran and Marshall will be among a bipartisan group of around 10 senators making the trip. It will go from Washington, D.C., to Germany and then Poland. The senators will meet with senior U.S. and NATO leadership regarding the war and will discuss giving more security support to Ukraine.
The announcement comes after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy gave a joint address to Congress via video Wednesday morning. In his address, he evoked the attacks on Pearl Harbor and the World Trade Center to ask Congress to provide additional support to help them protect Ukrainian airspace and ramp up sanctions on Russia.
All of the senators from Kansas and Missouri described the address as powerful and said they supported increased military assistance for Ukraine.
“The United States has the capability to provide further resources to Ukrainians through defensive military equipment, food aid and medical supplies,” Moran said. “We must demonstrate through our actions that we stand with Ukraine and our European allies in the fight for democracy.”
Marshall and Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley criticized Biden’s response to the war, saying he has been too slow to provide the aid Ukraine needs.
A few hours later, Biden announced he would send another $800 million in weapons to Ukraine from the spending package Congress passed last week, including drones and anti-aircraft missiles. The announcement stops short of meeting all of Zelenskyy’s requests.
While senators advocated sending more weapons to help Ukraine — like jet fighter aircraft, attack aircraft, drones and anti-aircraft missiles — few were willing to support a no-fly zone over Ukraine.
“I am committed that there will be no American bloodshed in Ukraine — this has to be a war that is led by Europe,” Marshall said. “We will be standing beside and behind, but we don’t want American pilots in the air space or American boots on the ground. We must do all we can to help the brave people of Ukraine.”
Hawley has been vocally opposed to sending more U.S. troops to Europe — earlier this year he called for the U.S. to drop its support for Ukraine joining NATO — but he said he supported sending weapons to the country.
“I’ve been a consistent skeptic and opposed to some of U.S. troops there, honestly,” Hawley said. “But providing defensive weapons is not a big deal. You know, I mean, Russians invaded them, they need this weaponry to defend themselves. So I say get them what they need.”
This story was originally published March 16, 2022 at 4:26 PM.