Larsen acknowledges it’s hard for them to stand by and watch, but he says we don’t want direct conflict with Russia, and he believes Russia doesn’t want a conflict with NATO either. Northwest Newsradio asked Larsen about the possibility Ukraine would capitulate and agree never to join NATO, and he tells us NATO has an open-door policy for any country that wants to go down the path to membership, but it’s a path that takes time and effort.
He says he’ll leave it up to Ukrainian leaders to make their own decision. “NATO has an open-door policy, and it is up to individual countries and their leaders to freely choose whether they want to get on the path of joining NATO,” Larsen says, “I’ll leave it to Volodymyr Zelensky, the President of Ukraine, and the Ukrainian leadership to make their decisions about whether or not they want to join NATO. They are invited to join NATO, and it’s always been about their choice whether or not to join NATO. I think we need to maintain that position. That said, we also need to maintain the pressure on Russia. We cannot let Russia force countries to make choices that they otherwise wouldn’t have made but for being invaded – an unprovoked invasion of Ukraine by Putin and the Russian military.”
Larsen says we’ve already approved $14 billion in military and humanitarian aid for Ukraine, but he says European nations are also carrying much of the load, including support for thousands of Ukrainian refugees.
You can see Ryan Harris’ complete interview with Rep. Larsen on his visit with U.S. NATO troops in the video below.
