Credit: Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Trey Fowler/U.S. Navy
Congressman Brian Fitpzatrick and other lawmakers met with the president of Ukraine Friday amid rising tensions in the region.
Fitzpatrick, a Republican from Middletown Township; Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur, a Democrat from Ohio; Congressman Andy Harris, a Republican from Maryland; and Mike Quigley, A Democrat from Illinois, held a virtual call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
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Fitzpatrick’s office said the group of lawmakers conveyed “strong support for Ukraine as Russian aggression increases.”
Russia has massed tens of thousands of troops near their border near Ukraine. Starting in 2014, Russia and aligned local forces invaded the Crimean Peninsula in Ukraine.
President Joe Biden’s administration has threatened “significant consequences” if Russia uses its forces to push a further incursion into Ukraine, which was formerly part of the USSR.
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Fitzpatrick spent time during his FBI career in Ukraine in 2015 fighting corruption. He assisted in establishing the National Anti-Corruption Bureau.
In Congress, Fitzpatrick has been a member of the Congressional Ukraine Caucus.
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FItzpatrick visited Ukraine earlier this year and has met with representatives from the nation over his time in office.
Following Friday’s conversation with the president of Ukraine, Fitzpatrick released the following statement:
“The Congressional Ukraine Caucus stands in solidarity with the United States’ friend and ally Ukraine. We conveyed to President Zelenskyy that the security and sovereignty of Ukraine are not concerns for her alone to bear. They are – and must continue to be – a cause for which all liberty-loving nations of the world provide their unrelenting support.
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“With the Kremlin weighing another illegal assault on its neighbor, the United States should pursue all appropriate measures to avert such action. Russia already invaded Ukraine in 2014, causing the deaths of 14,000 innocents. The United States must immediately provide increased defensive military assistance to Ukraine and sanction Nord Stream 2. The creeping threat of war necessitates swift U.S. action for the defense of transatlantic security.”
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