Political Quotes

“Mr. President, 2 weeks ago, Secretary Pompeo appeared before the Senate Appropriations Committee, and I got the chance to ask him a simple question. I asked him whether it was still the position of the United States that Russia should not be allowed to join the G7 without adhering to the outlines of the Minsk agreement. That is the agreement that seeks to try to resolve the crisis that has been created in Europe and in Ukraine by the Russian invasion of eastern Ukraine. I give Secretary Pompeo credit because his answer was brutally honest. He said that he certainly could foresee a series of trade-offs with the Russians by which they would be allowed to join the G7--rejoin the G7-- without withdrawing their forces from eastern Ukraine or Crimea. That is a stunning reversal of prior U.S. policy--the idea that we would trade away Ukraine for some set of concessions from Russia on another area of national security, maybe in the Middle East--but it is not surprising. It is not surprising because, as Donald Trump has made clear over and over again, his primary objective is to become friends with Vladimir Putin. His primary objective is to try to square himself and the Kremlin without regard to the consequences for U.S. national security.…”