— What is happening goes beyond Ukraine and Russia and has significance for the whole world. And the world is watching, said Senator Wicker, also chairman of the Helsinki Commission of the US Congress. “Dictators, war criminals, would-be dictators are watching what we do because the way we respond to this type of provocation in a country that is our NATO partner will be very, very significant,” he added.
The article continues below the video
What damage occurred in Poland?
What does Senator Wicker think about the presence of American soldiers?
What actions does Senator Wicker criticize at the Pentagon?
What is the draft law on sanctions against Russian oil?
The Republican politician thus referred to the acts of sabotage of railway infrastructure in Poland revealed on Monday. This incident and Russian threats and hybrid war against the countries of NATO's eastern flank were the topics of Monday's meeting of the Helsinki Commission (officially the Commission for Security and Cooperation in Europe), an institution operating at the Congress and composed of politicians from both chambers.
In an interview with PAP and media representatives from the Baltic states, Wicker criticized the Pentagon's decision to withdraw the American brigade stationed on a rotational basis in Romania. However, he expressed hope that this decision, made against the will of Congress, would be “corrected”. He recalled that immediately after the announcement of the decision of the Ministry of Defense, he wrote, together with the head of the House of Representatives' armed forces committee, a letter to the head of the Pentagon, in which he condemned the actions of the American authorities in this matter. He emphasized that he believed that his comments were heard.
— The presence of American soldiers is important for countries that help Ukraine, that value freedom and our alliance – NATO. So I hope this will be fixed. It has happened before that certain decisions were later changed, said the politician.
Wicker also supported the bill on sanctions against countries purchasing Russian oil and gas, authored by his party colleague from the Senate, Lindsey Graham. Graham announced on Monday that Trump had agreed to the package after more than six months of delay.
— I am in favor of putting this project to a vote now. The fact that leadership in the Senate is considering it anytime soon shows they've gotten a signal from President Trump and the White House that this is a good idea, he said. He added that he also supports another project co-authored by Graham, which assumes that Russia will be officially recognized as a state supporting terrorism if the Kremlin does not return illegally deported Ukrainian children to their families. He announced that Pope Leo XIV would soon raise this issue.
