Washington, DC – Representative Gregory W. Meeks, Ranking Member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, condemned President Trump’s announcement that he has illegally frozen Congressionally approved U.S. assistance to Ukraine and called on the Administration to release its hold: 

“In a matter of weeks, President Trump has voted with Russia and North Korea at the UN; floated lifting of sanctions on the Kremlin, refused to call Putin a dictator, shut down U.S. cyber operations against Russia, and now - once again - frozen critical U.S. security assistance to Ukraine. All of this without actually ending the war in Ukraine or advancing any U.S. interests in the process.  

“If President Trump was truly concerned with securing a just and sustainable peace deal for Ukraine, he wouldn’t have conceded every piece of leverage the United States, our allies, and Ukraine held before even beginning negotiations. He wouldn’t be siding with an authoritarian responsible for war crimes.  And he certainly wouldn’t be forcing Ukraine into surrender, while claiming it’s a deal. Instead, he would have continued U.S. support for Ukraine to put it in the best possible position to secure a peace deal for Russia’s illegal and unjustified war against it.  

“Vladimir Putin knew that if he could wait until the 2024 election, there would be a chance for the Kremlin to have a friend in the White House. Today America is increasingly isolated, our alliances are frayed, and our foreign policy - as the Kremlin spokesperson today said - ‘largely coincides with [Russia’s] vision.’ I don’t know if even Putin could have imagined a better outcome.  

“My Republican colleagues who have called Putin a war criminal and promised their continued support to Ukraine must join me in demanding President Trump immediately lift this disastrous and unlawful freeze of Congressionally appropriated assistance to Ukraine.”