Hillary Clinton defended U.S. aid to Ukraine as a “good investment” — which she argued was was proven by President Zelenskyy’s Wednesday congressional address. The comments came as the former Secretary of State spoke with Anderson Cooper on “Anderson Cooper 360” Wednesday
“The Ukrainians have proven that they are a really good investment for the United States,” she said. “They are not asking us to be there to fight their war; they’re fighting it themselves. They’re asking us and our allies for the means to not only defend themselves, but to actually win.”
Clinton’s remarks responded to conservative legislators who are critical of the nation’s aid to the war-torn country — namely House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, who warned against sending a “blank check” amid growing debt in the U.S.
“No one is asking for a blank check,” Clinton continued, adding that Zelenskyy’s speech, in which the leader expressed gratitude for the U.S.’s support and urged for continued aid, “will certainly have strengthened both Democrats and Republicans who understand what’s at stake in this fight against Putin and Russian aggression, and now with their ally Iran as well.”
The former Presidential candidate also defied those critical of sending a Patriot missile battery to Ukraine by stating that is was “absolutely” the right choice.
“I hope that they will send more than one,” Clinton said. “I know that there’s been some reluctance in the past by not just the U.S. but our NATO allies to provide a lot of the advanced equipment, particularly in this case defensive equipment … But I think we’ve seen with our own eyes how effective Ukrainian military is.”
Clinton went on to say that the country “should be getting as much help as we can give them to end this war as quickly as possible in victory.”
After hearing Zelenskyy’s congressional address, Clinton called the speech “extraordinary” and “rousing,” noting that it “touched all the chords” for the American audience.
“It connected the struggle of Ukrainian people to our own revolution, to our own feelings that we want to be warm in our homes to celebrate Christmas and to get us to think about all the families in Ukraine that will be huddled in the cold and to know that they are on the front lines of freedom right now,” she said. “Their cause is our cause.”
