Buckeye Reporter

This afternoon, U.S. Senator Rob Portman (R-OH) joined FOX News’ America Reports to discuss President Zelenskyy’s speech to Congress as Ukraine continues to endure brutal Russian attacks. Portman noted the remarks were powerful and sobering and commended the administration for the weaponry they have sent to Ukraine, but said the administration must move quickly to supply more aid. As Vladimir Putin continues his murderous assault on Ukrainian maternity wards, humanitarian shelters, and breadlines, Portman pushes for more action from the administration to get Ukrainians the military assistance they need – Soviet made aircraft, anti-aircraft, anti-missile, and lethal defensive weaponry – to defend themselves and defeat Russia.

A transcript of his remarks can be found below and a video can be found here.

PORTMAN ON ZELENSKYY’S PLEA FOR THE U.S. TO TRANSFER FIGHTER JETS  

“I thought Zelenskyy gave a powerful presentation as to why he needs help to be able to have, if not a no-fly zone, a virtual no-fly zone, by giving him the military means to do so. And one thing he talked about was these planes and I think it's something we should have done a long time ago. In fact you recall the State Department at one point said it had a green light and then suddenly it didn't. We should have just sent it quietly, gotten those planes in there. Ukrainian pilots, it's not escalatory in my view. Second, though, you remember that President Zelenskyy also talked about anti-aircraft, in fact he specifically mentioned the S300. There are a number of these systems all around the former Warsaw Pact countries in Eastern Europe, central Europe, that could be very helpful here, and in the presidential release I saw just a minute ago that just went out, there was a hint that we are finally making progress in doing just that. Facilitating the transfer of these weapons systems they can use and replenishing the existing weapons systems they have to be able to push back against these cruise missiles, the artillery, the bombardments that the poor people of Ukraine are facing every night.”

PORTMAN ON POLAND’S OFFER TO TRANSFER THEIR MIG 29’S TO UKRAINE

“John, I think it was a very sincere offer. In fact the offer came initially from the Pols, so we did not initiate this. The Pols did. They raised it as an idea where we could help facilitate it by helping them backfill the need they would have to additional aircraft, particularly F-16s, which is in our interest, too. We want the Pols to have more F-16s, because that has helped them to defend their borders. So it was a win for Ukraine, a win for Poland, and a win for us in terms of helping these borderline states to be able to better defend themselves. So it was their idea. I think they would love to go through with it. But, they are concerned about doing it alone, so they would like to be something where the U.S. is involved in helping to facilitate it. And, I also think this is something that the Ukrainians have thought about a lot and they need them and want them and they can use them, because some of our military experts said, ‘they can’t use them.’ No, I trust the Ukrainians, given what they are undergoing right now to make that decision.”

PORTMAN ON ZELENSKYY’S MESSAGE TO PRESIDENT BIDEN TO BE THE LEADER OF THE WORLD AND DEFEND PEACE

“I hope it will, Sandra. And where I see it happening at this NATO meeting the president is about to attend in Europe, he needs to ensure the other members of NATO understand that America will lead here. We will be the nation that leads in terms of peace. Peace means stopping the Russians from this carnage. Peace means ensuring that the Russian soldiers can't continue to target civilians and take innocent people's lives. So that's part of the message that I hope he will take over there and feel a little more emboldened to do it because Zelenskyy has established the United States as the leader of peace. Let’s face it. We have got the most powerful army in the world, we have got the best economy in the world, we have the ability to lead here and I think other countries will follow if we do. We talked about some of the proactive things we should do to get these anti-aircraft system in there, to get the planes in there, to rearm them so they can replenish their existing systems they have. We need better anti-tank, anti-ship weapons as well. I think we need to change the dynamic a little bit.

“I think frankly a lot of our military leadership and intelligence thought that this would be a three or four day war. You heard this on your own network a lot, Sandra. That is not what it has turned out to be. I think we were very good, and the intelligence services particularly, about predicting what the Russians would do, but we weren’t as good predicting at predicting what the Ukrainians would do and the Ukrainians have stood fast and they have been so brave and so effective at pushing back on the ground. What they do need is help in the air. They need to stop the bombardments. Vladimir Putin is not just destroying a country, he is destroying a people. This is almost like Ukrainian genocide now, and in terms of the war crimes issue that was raised earlier, of course these are war crimes when you purposely target a maternity hospital. I mean I don't see that there is any question there, and the Russian officials that are signing off on this and the Russian commanders on the ground who are signing off on this, should start to disobey these orders because the world is watching.”

PORTMAN ON WHETHER HE THINKS PUTIN’S THREATS ARE STOPPING BIDEN FROM TRANSFERRING THE MIG 29S

“Well I think it's a function of leadership. And again, I applaud the administration for what they have done, but they got to go further and got to go faster. I don't think it was hearing from Vladimir Putin, because they aren’t talking. I don't think it was even a message from what I know. I don't think it was something where they said it would be escalatory. By the way, the Russians are escalating every day, aren't they? I think it was much more wanting to keep the coalition together, concern perhaps from some other coalition members. But you know what, again, that cries out for leadership and to say ‘you know what, Poland is a sovereign country, Poland wants to do this. We are going to help facilitate it. We are going to get it done. We are going to help Zelenskyy to be able to defend himself.’ By the way, these are not offensive weapons. The people in Ukraine have no offensive interest or capability. What they want to do is defend their country. So in terms of crossing a line, in terms of escalation, it's the Russians who are escalating constantly every day – the type of weapons they are using, their targets. I think that's not the reason. It's more trying to keep the coalition together and that's good. On the other hand, you have to lead these coalitions and I hope that's what President Biden will be able to do when he over there meeting with the NATO allies.”

PORTMAN ON THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THE DRONES THE U.S. IS SENDING TO UKRAINE 

“Extremely effective, and I am glad that he is doing that. That was to me the best news out of the entire press conference, in addition to being more proactive on getting the S300s and the other systems like the SA 3s and the SA 8s in there. But I think there are not enough. So if you only have 100, and they are kamikaze, remember, John, so they actually attack the target not by shooting at it, but by crashing into it, so we need more. I mean, you see these Russian columns with all these Russian vehicles and tanks, you know those 100 could be gone like that. So I was really encouraged by that, I must say, and I hope that they will provide more and also look to other countries to help more. Israel as an example has drones that are on the commercial market. And Turkey has obviously already been helpful. They may be at their capacity in terms of production, but I think there’s a few more to get out of Turkey as well. But I think that's a very positive development and will give the Ukrainians the ability to, again, defend themselves. Give them a fighting chance.”