“When I suggested that to President Zelenskyy, he lit up like a Christmas tree,” the South Carolina Republican said.
Days after President Joe Biden apologized to Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for the delay in U.S. funding to Kyiv, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said Sunday he is pushing for the seizure of Russian assets to provide additional aid to Ukraine.
“There’s $300 billion sitting in Europe from Russian sovereign wealth assets that we should seize and give to Ukraine. We have Russian money in America we should seize. We should make Russia a state sponsor of terrorism under U.S. law,” Graham told Margaret Brennan on “Face the Nation” on CBS.
“When I suggested that to President Zelenskyy, he lit up like a Christmas tree,” he added. “Making Russia a state sponsor of terrorism under U.S. law would be a very big blow to Russia.”
Graham, a longtime Russia hawk, is one of staunchest supporters of Ukraine in the Senate among his party. During months of wrangling in Congress over a $95 million foreign aid package for Israel, Ukraine and Taiwan, Graham was part of a handful of Republicans who flipped their prior opposition to the bill.
He emphasized to Brennan that “we’ve got a chance to reset this war” now that the United States is providing significant aid to Ukraine, including a new $225 million package in military assistance that President Joe Biden announced Friday. Amid Biden’s state visit to France and some simmering disagreementbetween him and French President Emmanuel Macron on the war in Ukraine, the White House released a joint roadmap Saturday committing to support efforts by the G7 to tap into profits from frozen Russian assets to help Ukraine.
Graham acknowledged, however, that the Biden administration would be unlikely to sign off on his suggestion to designate Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism.
“Either we’re going to help Ukraine or we’re not. It’s now time to give them the F-16s, let them fly the planes, long-range artillery to hit targets inside of Russia,” Graham said. “Go after Putin’s assets, wherever they’re at, all over the world. Go on the offensive.”
The senator expressed hopes that Ukraine will regain “military momentum” this summer and criticized how “slow” and “indecisive” the United States has been in offering support to Ukraine.
“But if we went after the assets that Putin has all over the world, take his money that’s stolen from the Russian people and help the victims in Ukraine, I think it would do a lot to end this war,” Graham said.