Biden Admin Says Will Not Back Down on Support for Ukraine, Urges Congress To Pass Supplemental

The Biden Administration on Tuesday once again ruled out calls for sending Western troops to fight in Ukraine, saying that it will not back down on its support for Ukraine regardless.  

"We believe that the most immediate and helpful path forward to stop Putin’s aggression would be for the House of Representatives to pass the national security supplemental so our Ukrainian partners have the weapons and ammunition they need to defend themselves, and they’ll continue to fight courageously to defend their democracy and to push back against this infringement on their territorial integrity and sovereignty," State Department's Principal Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel told TURAN's Washington correspondent during daily briefing.

Patels comments came amid the latest statements by European leaders - most recently by the European Council President Charles Michel on Monday  - in which they urged that to have peace, Europe must prepare for war.

Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, who is currently visiting Germany to attend the Ukraine Defense Contact Group along with representatives of more than 50 countries and organizations, said on Tuesday that Ukraine will not back down in face of the Russian invasion, "neither will the United States."
 

The U,S, stands by Ukraine because it is the right thing to do and because America cares when freedom is at risk, the secretary said. "But we also stand by Ukraine because it's crucial to our own security," he added.

The U.S. would face grave new perils in a world where aggression and autocracy are on the march where tyrants are emboldened and where dictators think that they can wipe up a democracy off the map.

"When we invest in Ukraine security, we invest in our own security, " Austin concluded. "And we strengthen this contact group's shared vision of an open world of rules and rights and responsibilities."