World leaders coming to Washington for NATO summit

[Ray Bogan]

World leaders are coming to Washington next week for the annual NATO summit, which will mark the military alliance’s 75th anniversary. 

Senators Thom Tillis and Jeanne Shaheen will lead the Congressional delegation, and they’ll be tasked with ensuring the United States commitment to Ukraine’s security remains strong. They also want to ensure Ukraine remains on a path to EU and NATO membership, even if that won’t happen anytime soon. 

As Senator Tillis told Punchbowl News: “You’re going to have to have people like me and others, the majority of our conference, saying we need to stand behind Ukraine.” 

Tillis says that needs to happen no matter who wins in November. Donald Trump says he could end the Russia-Ukraine war in one day. He also told members of Congress during a visit to Washington in June that he doesn’t want to support foreign wars and there is a group of House Republicans who agree with him. 

[Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene]

“He wants to see an end to the foreign wars and he’s committed to bringing back world peace. “

[Rep. Matt Gaetz]

“He lamented the fact that we’re sending $60 billion to Ukraine and we’re not paying our troops more. So President Trump was explicitly a critic of the Ukraine aid and a supporter of the increases in pay for American troops.”  

[Ray Bogan]

But Tillis said he and many other Republicans want to continue supporting Ukraine.  

“We need to lay the groundwork to say that, fundamentally, what Biden has negotiated and committed to makes sense, but every president has a right to review and consider possible enhancements and modifications,” Tillis told Punchbowl. 

While Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky is actively pushing to enter the alliance, it cannot happen while fighting continues. Senator Shaheen said as much, telling punchbowl: “As long as the war is active and unresolved, Ukraine is not going to be a member of NATO.” 

This will be the first NATO summit for Sweden and Finland. The expansion came as a direct result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. 

Straight Arrow News will continue to follow developments out of next week’s summit. You can too by downloading the Straight Arrow News app and turning on notifications for news updates.