– House Resolution Would Seek Ukrainian Victory As Official Policy:
Rep. Joe Wilson (R-SC) is planning to introduce a resolution in the House that would declare it is US policy to seek a Ukrainian victory against Russia, which includes returning all Russian-controlled territory to Kyiv, including Crimea.
According to Yahoo News, the resolution “affirms that it is the policy of the United States to see Ukraine victorious against the invasion and restored to its internationally recognized 1991 borders.”
The resolution will be co-sponsored by Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN) and will need to make it through the House Foreign Affairs Committee before being put to the floor for a full House vote. The committee is chaired by Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX), who has been calling on President Biden to arm Ukraine with longer-range weapons that can launch strikes on Crimea.
The news comes after leaks allegedly released by Airman Jack Teixeira revealed the Biden administration doesn’t think Ukraine can regain territory in its expected counteroffensive. The Pentagon has also told Congress that it’s unlikely Ukraine will be able to retake Crimea.
Despite the US assessments, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and his top aides maintain peace talks can’t happen until Russia is expelled from Crimea and the territory it captured since launching last year’s invasion.
Making it official US policy to support these goals would guarantee a prolonged conflict and would risk an escalation that could lead to a direct NATO-Russia clash.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken has previously acknowledged a Ukrainian attempt to retake Crimea would cross a “red line” for Russian President Vladimir Putin.
A congressional staffer who supports the resolution told Yahoo that the bill “demonstrates the wide support in Congress for Ukrainian victory. We all need to move beyond ‘as long as it takes’ and embrace ‘Ukrainian victory’ as our rallying cry in order for Ukraine to win the war this year.”
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