Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) on Friday claimed the security of the United States is dependent on Ukraine’s border security from Russian invasion.

Speaking in Finland upon ending his taxpayer funded European tour, McConnell alleged the strongest nation on earth, the United States, is dependent on Ukraine, a non-NATO nation, for its security.

“As my fellow leading Republicans and I have explained, it is not an act of charity for the United States and our NATO allies to help supply the Ukrainian people’s self-defense,” McConnell said. “It is a direct investment in our own core national interests. America is a world power with worldwide interests. Our security and prosperity are deeply intertwined with a secure and stable Europe.”

Establishment lawmakers have earmarked more than $110 billion in taxpayer dollars to defend Ukraine’s border, while the United States’ border patrol encountered about 2 million in illegal migrants invading the southern border in the fiscal year 2022.

But McConnell made no mention of the southern border invasion, instead, he proclaimed the money spent on Ukraine’s border miles away from the continental U.S. would “directly strengthen America’s own defense.”

“This means that a significant portion of the money Congress has appropriated is going directly to strengthen America’s own defense by replenishing our inventories with more modern versions of these older weapons we have transferred to Ukraine,” he claimed.

McConnell claimed funding Ukraine’s border from invasion was the right thing to do, noting peace the “road to peace lies in speedily surging Ukraine the tools they need to achieve victory as they define it”:

It is not enough to do the right things; we need to do the right things at the right speed. The Biden administration and our allies must act more decisively to ensure that both our collective assistance to Ukraine and the investments we each make in our own militaries take place at the speed of relevance.

McConnell’s comments come after the Biden administration has imposed approximately 1,500 new and 750 amended sanctions and export controls against Russia, the State Department estimates.

President Joe Biden, right, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy hug as they say goodbye at the Memorial Wall of Fallen Defenders of Ukraine in Russian-Ukrainian War with photos of killed soldiers, in Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday, Feb. 20, 2023. (Ukrainian Presidential Press Office via AP)

Critics claim the measures, along with the inflaming rhetoric, has caused the Russian conflict to escalate and prevent Russian President Vladimir Putin from an off-ramp to end the struggle without impacting his domestic political standing.

“And we are going to announce more sanctions this week together with our partners,” President Biden announced Tuesday in Poland. “We will hold those accountable for those responsible for this war, and will seek justice for the war crimes and crimes against humanity continuing to be committed by the Russians.”

“Together we made sure Russia is paying the price for its abuses,” Biden said. “We continue to maintain the largest sanctions regime ever imposed on any country in history.”

Follow Wendell Husebø on Twitter @WendellHusebø. He is the author of Politics of Slave Morality.