Lee leads group of GOP lawmakers in asking for more accountability over Ukraine aid

A group of Republican lawmakers, led by Sen. Mike Lee of Utah and Rep. Eli Crane of Arizona, sent a letter to President Joe Biden on Thursday expressing concern over the United States’ “unrestrained” aid to Ukraine as the war there enters its second year.

“We are deeply concerned that the trajectory of U.S. aid to the Ukrainian war effort threatens further escalation and lacks much-needed strategic clarity,” the letter, signed by 19 lawmakers, including three senators, said.

The letter mentions the Biden administration’s plans to ship M1 Abrams tanks to Ukraine, which require months to ship and training for Ukrainian crews, and to send ground-launched small-diameter bombs, which would also require months to ship.

These plans signal that the administration is anticipating a “long-term conflict” but, the letter says, this strategy could prolong or escalate the war.

“Unrestrained U.S. aid for Ukraine must come to an end, and we will adamantly oppose all future aid packages unless they are linked to a clear diplomatic strategy designed to bring this war to a rapid conclusion,” the letter says.

The U.S. has become the largest benefactor to Ukraine, surpassing other NATO allies, by committing “over $113 billion in military, economic and humanitarian” aid to Ukraine, and continues to promise more as the U.S. reaches the $31.4 trillion debt ceiling, the letter says.

According to Reuters, the Biden administration announced a new round of military aid to Ukraine, worth $325 million, on Wednesday, marking the 36th package the U.S. has sent since the Russian invasion began.

Crane said on Twitter that a fraction of the money could have been used to create a border wall to secure the U.S. from “drugs, human trafficking, (and) illegal aliens.”

A Deseret News/Hinckley poll found that about 72% of Utah voters surveyed support sending humanitarian aid to Ukraine, while 48% favor providing military support through weapons and supplies, and 21% support sending U.S. troops.

The letter said that the extensive aid makes it “increasingly difficult to deny Russian accusations of U.S. complicity in a proxy war.”

“As the U.S. capacity to respond to threats is being degraded, your strategy in Ukraine is pushing our two greatest adversaries closer together. Russia and China’s burgeoning alliance has only become stronger in the past year,” lawmakers said in the letter.

“Our national interests, and those of the Ukrainian people, are best served by incentivizing the negotiations that are urgently needed to bring this conflict to a resolution,” it said.

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A group of GOP lawmakers, including Rep. Mike Turner of Ohio and Rep. Chris Stewart of Utah, visited Kyiv earlier in April.

“There is overwhelming bipartisan support in America to continue assisting #Ukraine in its fight against Russian aggression,” tweeted Turner, who led the delegation to Ukraine, along with a photo of him shaking hands with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

But Stewart said in a tweet that while he’s “proud of our major role in Ukraine’s success against Russian aggression,” he does not think the U.S. can afford to “continue sending taxpayer money to Ukraine.”

Meanwhile, Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina has pushed for the Biden administration to send more aid to Ukraine.

“Let me just stress this: How can you call this war by Russia a crime against humanity … and not give the victim of their crime against humanity the defensive weapons they need to stop the crime?” he said in February, according to ABC News.

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Here is a link to the letter.

Suzanne Bates contributed to this article.