WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Roger Wicker, R-Miss., Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, today issued the following statement:
“Vladimir Putin’s military failures in Ukraine have led him to undertake unprecedented acts of aggression against our NATO allies. Last week, a Russian cruise missile impacted on Polish territory, and armed Russian drones were shot down over Romanian airspace. This was no accident. These tactics were a deliberate escalation aimed at coercing NATO to end its support of Ukraine. Putin’s schemes will not work. The United States stands with Poland, Romania, and its NATO allies and will continue to support Ukraine.
Putin’s reckless probing of Polish and Romanian territory coincides with the decision to withdraw U.S. brigade combat teams from each country over the last nine months — a decision I strongly disagreed with. Make no mistake, I support burden sharing and increased defense spending within NATO. President Trump deserves enormous credit for securing agreement among NATO allies to spend 5% of its gross domestic product on defense by 2035.
It will take time to translate this spending into military capability. The ongoing force posture review in Europe must account for this reality and for the risk that a wounded and failing Putin might seek to change his circumstances through opportunistic aggression in Europe. Putin only understands strength and cost imposition. This is why the Senate is working to pass the Sanctioning of Russia Act.
The aim of this review should be to strengthen NATO’s conventional defenses and to ensure that any adjustment in U.S. presence be undertaken in a deliberate, coordinated manner — akin to the 10-year plan on defense spending — that results in the credible deterrence of Russia and assurance of our allies.”
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