Sen. Lindsey Graham holds a news conference at the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Jan. 24, 2020. that would make more citizens eligible to be drafted into the military, and sharply questioned exempting men under 27 from the fight.Graham called for the swift legislative action — even as U.S.
As he issued his advice on the draft, Graham, who met with President Volodymyr Zelensky on Monday, could offer no true assurances about the pending aid package, instead telling reporters that he is “more optimistic than I’ve ever been that something will get out of the House pretty soon.”Ukraine is already short of soldiers and ammunition, and Russia is advancing on the battlefield, having recently seized the eastern city of Avdiivka after a Ukrainian retreat.
“I would hope that those eligible to serve in the Ukrainian military would join. I can’t believe it’s at 27,” he told reporters Monday. “You’re in a fight for your life, so you should be serving — not at 25 or 27.”He also urged Ukrainians not to base their decisions to join the military on whether or not the United States continues to support them. “No matter what we do, you should be fighting,” he said. “No matter what we do, you’re fighting for you.
The senator also criticized slow deliveries of U.S.-provided long-range missiles known as ATACMS, saying they “should have been here yesterday.” He said he hoped Ukraine will soon “get ATACMS so you can knock the damn bridge down linking Crimea to Russia.” Although the United States bars Ukraine from using U.S.-provided weapons to strike inside Russia, Ukraine has used ATACMS to attack targets inside Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine.