Sen. Graham Visits Kyiv, Calls Ukraine’s Invasion of Russia’s Kursk ‘Beautiful’

Graham made the trip to Ukraine with Sen. Blumenthal

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) visited the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv on Monday and praised the Ukrainian incursion into Russia’s Kursk Oblast, calling the offensive “beautiful.”

Speaking to reporters alongside Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Graham said, “What do I think about Kursk? Bold, brilliant, beautiful. Keep it up.”

The White House has insisted it was unaware of Ukraine’s plans to launch the ground incursion into Kursk but is still strongly backing the invasion as the US is allowing Ukraine to use US-provided weapons.

Graham added that his message to the Biden administration is to give Ukraine the “weapons they need to win the war they can’t afford to lose.” While supporting the invasion of Kursk, the administration still says it doesn’t support “long-range” Ukrainian strikes inside Russia, although it hasn’t defined how deep into Russia is too far.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky meets with US Senators Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) in Kyiv, Ukraine August 12, 2024. Ukrainian Presidential Press Service/Handout via REUTERS

During their visit to Kyiv, Graham and Blumenthal met with Zelensky, who is asking for the US to support “long-range” attacks.

“We discussed what exactly is needed to bring this war to its end, and to bring it to a just end,” Zelensky said of his meeting with the US senators. “I explained in detail our need for long-range capabilities.”

The US-backed incursion into Kursk marks a significant escalation of the proxy war and risks a major Russian response. Russian President Vladimir Putin has blamed the attack on Ukraine’s Western backers, saying, “The West is waging war against us using Ukrainians.”

Author: Dave DeCamp

Dave DeCamp is the news editor of Antiwar.com, follow him on Twitter @decampdave.