Rep. Crawford calls for Europe to step up defense of Ukraine

Little Rock, Arkansas — According to U.S. Rep. Rick Crawford, R-Jonesboro, Vladimir Putin is solely to blame for the invasion of Ukraine.

According to the First District Congressman, Europe must take a more active role in defending its continent from the Russian threat.

Crawford, who sits on the House Select Committee on Intelligence, discussed his December trip to Ukraine, where he visited with a number of high-ranking elected and military leaders.

“The one thing that I think sort of resonated with me was they are fiercely nationalistic. That is to say, they’re very proud of Ukraine, they’re proud to be Ukrainians,” he said. “There is a very high degree of enmity between Ukraine and Russia. I want to be careful how I say this, but really they hate Russia. And even though there are sort of some ethnic Russians over in the Donbas region of Ukraine, by and large, the sentiment is very anti-Russian. They are, on the other hand, quite pro-American.”

According to Crawford, Ukraine still needs more sophisticated weaponry to combat the Russian invasion, but he also said “we need for our allies in Europe to step up.”