GOP lawmaker returns from Ukraine, gives Biden a C+ for handling Russia-Ukraine crisis

Fresh from a visit to Ukraine, Rep. Mark Green cheered President Biden’s decision to deploy U.S. troops to Eastern Europe in a show of force against Russia.

Mr. Green, a Tennessee Republican who recently joined a bipartisan House delegation to Brussels and Kyiv, said the Biden administration deserves credit for bolstering NATO allies and taking a stand against Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has positioned 100,000 troops on his country’s border with Ukraine.

“I want to be on the record saying they’re handling that correctly. I think it’s absolutely the right move to send troops to Poland and Lithuania and Romania,” he told The Washington Times. “If you compare it to Afghanistan, which was a big fat zero, this is probably a C minus or a C plus.”

Mr. Biden ordered close to 2,000 troops to forward locations in Poland and another 1,000 troops to Romania. Both Poland and Romania border Ukraine.

The White House has left additional troop deployments on the table. A total of 8,500 troops are on alert for possible deployment to Eastern Europe.

Mr. Green, a member of the Foreign Affairs and Armed Services committees, said the U.S. troops are a much-needed backstop for NATO as the world awaits Mr. Putin’s next move.

Mr. Green’s comments mark a rare sign of unity among Democrats and Republicans in Washington. Mr. Putin’s aggression toward Ukraine has, in many ways, been a unifying force which was a key takeaway Mr. Green brought back from Ukraine.

“Putin has amazingly united NATO, united the European Union, even United Congress,” he said. “You’ve got Republicans and Democrats saying the same thing on this issue, which is pretty astounding.”

However, lawmakers in Washington remain divided over proposals to send lethal aid to Ukraine and legislation that would slap a bevy of sanctions on Russia. All sides worry that any missteps could exacerbate the volatile situation in Eastern Europe.

Democrats want sanctions linked to a Russian invasion. Republicans want the U.S. to levy some sanctions immediately rather than wait for Russia to invade.

The debate reopened wounds over Mr. Biden’s decision to waive sanctions on Russia’s Nord Stream 2 pipeline into Germany, which Republicans and some Democrats say allowed Mr. Putin to weaponize the energy supply to Europe.

“We should have never lifted those in the first place,” Mr. Green said. “Putin and his cronies are trying to make energy a weapon and Nord Stream 2 has become a lever that he has.”

He said the focus in Congress going forward should be squarely on how best to deter Mr. Putin and provide assistance to Ukraine.

“It’s important for all of us to remember is [Ukrainian President Volodymyr] Zelenskyy is in a balancing act situation,” he said. “He has, of course, prepare for whatever eventuality and I think he understands intel picture and the lay of the land, but he also has to keep panic from happening […] So the real challenge for how we work with him is to just make sure that we thread this needle very carefully.”