WASHINGTON — Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) accused President Trump of in search of an “illusory peace” with Russian President Vladimir Putin as the previous Senate Republican chief accepted the Star of Ukraine award Thursday night.
McConnell, 83, mentioned Trump’s advisers “don’t seem ready to summon the resources and national will it requires” to discourage US adversaries — and accused the White Home of shifting the nation towards “a headline that reads, ‘Russia wins, America loses,’” throughout remarks accepting the honour from the US-Ukraine Basis.
The Kentuckian additionally ripped the administration’s method to this point to winding down the three-year battle, saying it “shreds America’s credibility, leaves Ukraine under threat, weakens our alliances and emboldens our enemies.”
“Peace is a noble goal. And few deserve it more than the people of Ukraine, who feel the absence of peace most viscerally … When they stand in the rubble of their homes, their schools, and their churches,” he went on. “And when they say goodbye to children or parents bound for the front, some never to return.”
“If there’s anyone who I’ll take at their word when they say they want peace, it’s the people who had peace stolen from them,” he added. “The nation whose unique identity has led Kremlin totalitarians — time and time again — to starve, subjugate, and try to destroy it.”
Trump, 78, and Vice President JD Vance, 40, went off on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in an Oval Workplace assembly Feb. 28, sinking plans for an financial deal that might have seen the US collectively put money into Kyiv’s rare-earth minerals.
Zelensky had locked horns with Vance over what the Ukrainian instructed was a toothless diplomatic method to Russian aggression — main Trump to lash out: “You’re gambling with World War III.”
After the setback in US-Ukraine relations, the president briefly stopped sharing crucial intelligence with Kyiv and halted navy assist.
US particular envoy Steve Witkoff has since flown to Moscow twice to fulfill with Putin in an effort to succeed in a cease-fire — with out reaching an settlement both time.
In Thursday’s remarks, McConnell knocked Trump — with out immediately naming him or his advisers — for the fallout from the stalled negotiations.
“When American officials court the favor of an adversary at the expense of allies … when they mock our friends to impress an enemy … they reveal their embarrassing naivete,” he mentioned.
“To cut off Ukraine is to stab ourselves in the back. So is the denigration of allies who have fought and died alongside us,” he added. “The People ought to be harmful allies. The type so harmful that enemies of democracy, sovereignty, and free commerce wouldn’t dare to doubt our commitments or our resolve.
“We’ve got a long road ahead. But I’m proud to share it with all of you.”
The US-Ukraine basis famous on its webpage that the award given to McConnell was meant for members of Congress who “stand in solidarity with the people of Ukraine.”
When saying his choice to step down on the finish of his present time period in January 2027, McConnell hinted at having “some unfinished business to attend to” and has remained a stalwart supporter of Kyiv’s battle effort and a sturdy American navy presence on the worldwide stage.
“Every debate over agriculture or infrastructure or education or taxes is downstream of the obligations of national security,” he mentioned final month. “Every question of policy here at home is contingent on our duty to provide for the common defense.”
“Thanks to Ronald Reagan’s determination, the work of strengthening American hard power was well underway when I arrived in the Senate,” McConnell added.
“But since then, we’ve allowed that power to atrophy. And today, a dangerous world threatens to outpace the work of rebuilding it.”
McConnell voted towards confirming three of Trump’s cupboard officers — Protection Secretary Pete Hegseth, Director of Nationwide Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and Well being and Human Companies Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. — although they ascended to their posts with a majority vote from different Republicans.
