Senator Collins’ Statement on Meeting Ukraine President Zelensky
The Senate Delegation also met with political leaders in Sweden and Finland to discuss their potential accession to NATO
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Click HERE, HERE, and HERE for photos of Senator Collins with President Zelensky
*Click HERE for b-roll video of Senator Collins meeting President Zelensky*
Washington, D.C.—Over the past four days, U.S. Senator Susan Collins (R-ME) visited leaders in Kyiv, Ukraine; Stockholm, Sweden; and Helsinki, Finland along with Senators Mitch McConnell (R-KY), John Cornyn (R-TX), and John Barrasso (R-WY).
Following the Senate Delegation’s return to Washington, Senator Collins released this statement:
“The people of Ukraine are inspiring the world by their courage and will to fight for their country in response to Putin’s unprovoked and brutal invasion. On Friday, I joined three of my colleagues in traveling to Kyiv to meet with President Zelensky, who has united his country with his incredible leadership. We expressed our solidarity with the Ukrainian people and assured him of the bipartisan commitment in Congress to give the Ukrainians the military and humanitarian assistance they need to protect their people and defend their country from Russia’s war of aggression.
“I am supporting legislation that provides an additional $40 billion in aid for Ukraine. My visit reaffirmed my belief that Congress must urgently pass this legislation to support the Ukrainian people.
“The irony of this situation is that Putin’s brutal invasion of Ukraine has produced exactly the opposite results of what he intended. It has strengthened European unity against Russia, as is evidenced by Sweden’s and Finland’s decisions to apply for membership in NATO.
“Our meetings with the Prime Ministers and parliamentarians in Stockholm and Helsinki, as well as the President of Finland, were very productive. Sweden and Finland would bring tremendous strength to NATO, including a very capable military, advanced technology, and intimate knowledge of Russia. Finland shares an 830-mile border with Russia. Both nations have been traditionally neutral, but the February 24th invasion changed everything. I strongly support their accession to this critical defensive military alliance.”
In March, Senator Collins participated in a bipartisan congressional delegation visit to Poland and Germany, where she engaged with top military leaders, Ukrainian women leaders, Ukrainian refugees, German government officials, State Department personnel, and NGOs.
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