Ukrainian-born Republican Indiana Rep. Victoria Spartz blasted the Biden administration for being too slow to act on the war in Ukraine, while also saying that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s plea for a no-fly zone is “not possible” at this time.
Zelenskyy made an emotional appeal to Congress on Wednesday, in which he asked the U.S. for a no-fly zone, surface-to-air missile systems and more sanctions on Russia. He also called on President Joe Biden directly, saying, “Being the leader of the world means to be the leader of peace.”
“I hope President Biden will meet his expectation to be the leader of the free world because I haven’t seen it so far,” Spartz said on Fox News after Zelenskyy’s speech. “His actions and his words don’t go together right now.”
“I hope President Biden will meet his expectation to be the leader of the free world because I haven’t seen it so far.” Ukrainian-born @RepSpartz reacts to President Zelenskyy’s address to Congress where he pleaded for more help fighting Putin’s war @BillHemmer @marthamaccallum pic.twitter.com/DoIlj4SzUz
— America’s Newsroom (@AmericaNewsroom) March 16, 2022
She said she is “glad to see there is some unity in Congress” over legislation on the war in Ukraine, and that the executive branch has neglected the authority of Congress.
“I hope maybe there will be some change in Congress and we can put some pressure on this administration to act, not just talk, because a lot of lives are at stake… and it’s a big danger — for us not to act, also — to our country,” she continued. (RELATED: EXCLUSIVE: How Hundreds Of Civilians In A Small Town Help The Ukrainian Military Create One Critical Tool For Warfare)
She said Congress has let the executive branch “run wild” for too long, claiming that they have just talked, wrote letters and provided explanations. To hold the executive branch accountable, Congress should use tools like the “power of the purse,” she added.
“There are some things that are not feasible, and that’s why strategy, speed and skill [are] very important. We talk about giving, and it already will be three weeks, and we are still just talking about stuff, ” she said. The Ukrainians “are not asking us to come in and fight for us, and no one is planning to do that. An enforcement of a no-fly zone is not possible, at least it’s not at this point even on the table. But they have to protect their humanitarian corridors to be able to vacate some people, and there are some things possible.”
“It shouldn’t take three weeks,” she said. “We talk about all this aid but it’s not happening… They’re all still assessing what … military aid can do, and what they can do, and debate, and discuss and everything, and people are dying! Just get things done, you don’t have to talk about it.”
