Manchin on Ukraine No-Fly Zone: We Should Not Take Anything off the Table

Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) said Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press” that America should keep the option of a no-fly zone over Ukraine on the table.

Host Chuck Todd said, “Would you support a no-fly zone? Would you support doing this, which could trigger a wider conflict?”

Manchin said, “I understand, but right now you don’t signal to the nemesis Putin — this is Putin’s war, this is not the Russian people’s war, this is Putin’s war and his quest for whatever it may be. To take anything off the table, thinking we might not be able to use things because we’ve already taken it off the table is wrong. I will take nothing off the table. But I would be very clear that we’re going to support the Ukrainian people, the Ukrainian president, and this government every way humanly possible.”

He added, “Zelensky was very clear when he said we don’t need you to fight our fight. We don’t need you to fly your planes into our war zone. We need planes we can fly ourselves, and we have them on the border.”

On the U.S. banning importing Russian oil, Manchin said, “The people in my state of West Virginia believe it is basically foolish for us to keep buying products and giving profits and giving money to Putin to use against the Ukrainian people.”

Follow Pam Key on Twitter @pamkeyNEN