Ukraine officials pleading with US to provide military aid, lawmaker says

Ukrainian officials pleaded with visiting U.S. lawmakers this past weekend to provide military aid, claiming their ousted president intentionally gutted the nation’s defenses so it would be vulnerable to a Russian takeover, one of those U.S. lawmakers told Fox News.

“They wanted arms,” the lawmaker said, “even recognizing that it could be cited by Putin as an excuse, a provocation for further military action by him. They said Putin’s goal has never been Crimea; his goal is Kiev.”

Even before Viktor Yanukovych’s tenure as president, Ukraine’s military was woefully underfunded and outdated. The nation’s defense force is composed of obsolete tanks and fighter planes, and thousands of low-paid soldiers.

But the lawmaker who spoke with Fox News claimed Yanukovych had made it a point, over the course of his administration, to “hollow out” the Ukrainian military further.

The goal, the source said, was to weaken the Ukrainian national defenses in the event Russia eventually moved to reclaim the country.

Interim Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk told the visiting U.S. lawmakers that Yanukovych’s policy had effectively left Ukraine with about 6,000 capable soldiers. Yatsenyuk and every other significant Ukrainian leader the U.S. congressional delegation met with all pleaded with the lawmakers to use their influence in Washington to supply small arms and ammunition to the Ukrainian government. The lawmaker said there was not unanimity amongst the members of the delegation about the wisdom of such a policy.

Over the weekend, Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., a member of the delegation, would not give a definitive answer when asked whether military aid was on the table.

But other lawmakers are more aggressive. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., while acknowledging that Ukraine is “militarily out-matched by Russia,” called Monday for the Obama administration to provide military assistance.

“The Administration should rush the modest military assistance to the Ukrainian government that its leaders have requested,” McCain said in a statement.

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