Dem Sen. Coons: U.S. Needs to Discuss Sending Troops to Ukraine — ‘Putin Will Only Stop When We Stop Him’

Senator Chris Coons (D-DE) said Sunday on CBS’s “Face The Nation” that it was time for the United States to talk about sending troops to Ukraine.

Partial transcript as follows:

MARGARET BRENNAN: In some public remarks this week, you said the country needs to talk about when it might be willing to send troops to Ukraine. You said if the answer is never, then we are inviting another level of escalation and brutality by Putin. Are you arguing that President Biden-

COONS: Margaret-

BRENNAN: -was wrong when he said he would not send troops to Ukraine? Are you asking him to set a red line?

COONS: Margaret, I think those of us in Congress who have a critical role in setting foreign policy and in advising the president in terms of his decisions as commander in chief need to look clearly at the level of brutality. This is a moment of enormous challenge for all of us. And I deeply respect President Biden’s leadership in pulling together the West and imposing crushing sanctions on Russia. And in bringing to this fight countries that had stayed on the sidelines before. I think President Biden’s leadership has been steady and constructive. But this is a critical moment. If Vladimir Putin, who has shown us how brutal he can be, is allowed to just continue to massacre civilians, to commit war crimes throughout Ukraine without NATO, without the West coming more forcefully to his aid, I great- I deeply worry that what’s going to happen next is that we will see Ukraine turn into Syria. The American people cannot turn away from this tragedy in Ukraine. I think the history of the 21st century turns on how fiercely we defend freedom in Ukraine and that Putin will only stop when we stop him. I’ll close with this, Margaret. This is a weekend when so many families gather to celebrate the very best in the human spirit and where we grieve the loss of many to do due to COVID. We should also be prayerful and mindful of those who are fighting for freedom in Ukraine and how much their heroism and patriotism inspires the rest of us.

Follow Pam Key on Twitter @pamkeyNEN