Senator Rand Paul clashed with Secretary of State Antony on Tuesday when he claimed the Biden administration had pushed Vladimir Putin into Ukraine by backing his bid to join NATO and that Moscow’s aggression could be explained by the fact that it the former Soviet Union attacked members.
His comments quickly led to accusations that the Republican was parroting Kremlin talks.
And during a hearing of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, it drew strong opposition from Blinken amid discussion of Ukraine’s sovereignty.
Paul said the government should not have publicly supported Ukraine’s desire to join NATO in September last year.
Blinken and other officials, he said, “banged the drums to bring Ukraine into the alliance.”
“Before this invasion, there could have been voices instead of agitating for something that we knew our adversary absolutely hated and was still agitating for NATO again last September before they signed the deal, Russia said “It’s a red line, red line,” Paul said.
“Now there is no justification for the invasion. I’m not saying that. But there are reasons for the invasion.”
Senator Rand Paul on Tuesday criticized the Biden administration for “banging the drums” to bring Ukraine into NATO and suggested it was the reason for the invasion of Russia
Foreign Minister Antony Blinken dismissed Paul’s claims, saying Moscow invaded because Vladimir Putin did not believe in Ukraine’s right to independent existence
Firefighters extinguish a fire in an industrial area after a rocket hit in Saltivka district, Kharkiv, Ukraine
The Kremlin and its allies have frequently expressed concern about NATO expansion in Eastern Europe, citing it as one of the reasons for the pre-invasion military build-up around Ukraine.
Paul went on to say that NATO membership may have meant US soldiers fighting with Russia.
“Were they or will they be part of NATO? that means US soldiers will fight in Ukraine, and that’s something I strongly dislike,” he said.
Blinken denied his claims.
“My judgment is different,” he said.
“If you look at the countries that Russia has attacked in recent years – Georgia leaving forces behind in Transnistria, Moldova and then repeatedly Ukraine – these were countries that were not part of NATO
“It probably didn’t attack NATO countries for a very good reason.”
Paul answered. “One could also argue that the countries they attacked were part of Russia…” he said before correcting himself: “Part of the Soviet Union.”
Blinken said: “I strongly disagree with that statement. It is the fundamental right of these countries to decide their own future and destiny.”
Paul says again that the countries in question were members of the Soviet Union for decades before its collapse.
“But that doesn’t give Russia the right to attack them,” Blinken said. ‘On the other hand.’
He said the US had tried to address Putin about Moscow’s concerns but had come to nothing.
Ukrainian soldiers fire a BM-21 Grad multiple rocket launcher system April 26 in the Luhansk region, Ukraine, as Russia’s attack on Ukraine continues
Western nations have increased supplies of heavy weapons in recent weeks to counter the Russian threat. Here, pro-Russian troops are seen atop an armored vehicle in the southern port city of Mariupol, Ukraine, on April 21
“It is clear from President Putin’s own words that it was never about Ukraine, which is potentially part of NATO,” he added.
“And it was always about his belief that Ukraine doesn’t deserve to be a sovereign, independent country, that it needs to be reintegrated into Russia in one form or another.”
Several conservatives have criticized the Biden administration for backing Ukraine’s ambitions to join NATO
Former US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said the “saber-rattling” rhetoric from Moscow and the threat of nuclear war were “very dangerous and unhelpful”.
On a visit to Germany, he hit out at Russia’s top diplomat Sergei Lavrov, who said Western leaders are risking a third world war by supplying Ukraine with heavy weapons.
“That kind of rhetoric is very dangerous and unhelpful,” Austin said.
“No one wants to see nuclear war. It is a war in which all sides lose.
“So saber-rattling and, you know, dangerous rhetoric is clearly unhelpful and something we’re not going to engage in.”
Austin spoke after holding defense talks at Ramstein Air Base, attended by more than 40 countries seeking to expedite and synchronize arms shipments to Kyiv.
Several nations have increased supplies of long-range weapons – such as howitzer artillery systems – as the war enters a crucial new phase and Russia focuses on the eastern Donbass region.
Austin was also asked about his recent controversial comments that the US wanted to “weaken” Russia, and he didn’t back down.
“We want to make it more difficult for Russia to threaten its neighbors and leave them less able to do so,” he said.
Moscow’s war machine had been severely damaged by 62 days of war, he continued.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Tuesday criticized Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov for spreading dangerous rhetoric. “This kind of rhetoric is very dangerous and unhelpful,” he said during a visit to Germany a day after Lavrov accused NATO of waging a proxy war in Ukraine that carries the “very serious” risk of a nuclear confrontation brings
Pro-Russian troops, including Chechen special forces fighters, stand in front of the Azovstal Iron and Steel Works administration building, which was destroyed during the Ukraine-Russia conflict, in the southern port city of Mariupol
“They lost a lot of equipment. They used a lot of precision-guided ammunition,” he said.
“They’ve lost a big surface fighter [vessel]and so, in terms of military capability, they are actually weaker than when they started.
“Because of the sanctions and trade restrictions placed on them, it will become more difficult for them to replace some of those capabilities as they move forward.
“And so, once again, we want to make sure they don’t have the same kind of ability to bully their neighbors that we saw at the start of this conflict.”
Lavrov, who earlier claimed that NATO is now waging a proxy war with Russia in Ukraine, poses a “very serious” risk that the conflict could turn nuclear.
In a speech on Russian state television Monday night, he accused Western leaders of risking a third world war by supplying Ukraine with heavy weapons with the aim of “wearing down the Russian army” – a goal he described as an “illusion”. .
Lavrov accused NATO and its allies of trying to intimidate Russia on the international stage and said tensions between East and West are worse now than they were during the Cuban Missile Crisis at the height of the Cold War.
Asked directly about the possibility of nuclear war, he replied: “The risks are very great. I don’t want the danger to be artificially inflated [but] it’s serious, really. It must not be underestimated.’