GOP Rep. Aderholt on ‘Complex’ Ukraine Situation: ‘At What Point Do You Say Enough Is Enough?’

Friday, during an interview with Mobile, AL radio’s FM Talk 106.5, Rep. Robert Aderholt (R-AL) offered his thoughts on the Russian invasion of Ukraine on the heels of hearing remarks from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

The Alabama Republican lawmaker said Zelensky had “probably moved the needle” in convincing Congress more was needed from the United States to help Ukrainians defend their homeland.

Aderholt also said he had hoped the United States would have helped facilitate the fighter jet swap with Poland required to supply the Ukrainians MiG fighter jets.

However, he said the unanswered question is how far the United States should allow Russia to advance before intervening.

“I was hoping that we would do the trade with Poland, as you mentioned,” he said. “I thought that would have been a good thing to do. Not obviously, there may be some information that I’m not aware of that the president has, and I’m always reluctant to be too critical of any president, even though Biden is not the president I usually agree on with on a whole lot of things. But obviously, you have to think through these things.”

“But at the same time, I would say — my question to the administration is what if he goes into another country?” Aderholt continued. “The country of Moldova or Georgia … which is nearby. At what point do you say enough is enough? That I think really is the question we’re having to deal with, and he can threaten and threaten and threaten and say, ‘You know, we’re going to get into nuclear war if you do this or that.’ It’s a very complex situation. Since I’ve been in Washington, I don’t think we’ve seen the makeup of what we’re seeing right now. It’s very tenuous over there.”

“I happened to be over in Eastern Europe when the invasion occurred,” he added. “I had been over in Lithuania meeting with the Prime Minister and the President of Lithuania. They are very concerned. They are one of the first breakaways from the Soviet Empire back in the early 90s. They are right next door to Belarus. They border Russia, Kaliningrad. They’re right there on the line as well. A lot of those Eastern European countries are very nervous.”

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