Sen. Lindsey Graham, South Carolina Republican, said Sunday that President Obama is “delusional” about what’s going on in Ukraine, that the country has been “dismembered” and that elections in the country scheduled for later this month cannot go forward.
Russian President Vladimir Putin “has successfully dismembered Ukraine by using special forces [and] intelligence agents to disrupt the Ukraine,” Mr. Graham said on CBS’s “Face the Nation.”
“I fear now that there will be a civil war,” he said. “What the administration should do is punish Putin for what he’s done in an effective way.”
The White House recently announced a new round of sanctions and President Obama said Friday he’s prepared to take further action if it appears that elections scheduled to be held in Ukraine later this month could be disrupted.
“The last round of sanctions the ruble went up in value, the Russian stock market surged,” Mr. Graham said. “It should have been called the Russian economic recovery act.”
Mr. Graham said the administration should sanction the energy and banking sectors of the Russian economy and provide arms to the people of Ukraine.
“If the Russian people are happy with Putin, make them pay the price,” he said. “President Obama is delusional about what’s going on in the Ukraine and it affects our national security all over the world.”
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
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