Sen. Lindsey Graham on Wednesday repeated his call for Russian President Vladimir Putin to be “taken out, one way or the other,” after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s appeal to Congress for additional U.S. support.
The South Carolina Republican made the remarks during a press conference to introduce a Senate resolution calling on the Biden administration to facilitate the transfer of fighter jets to Ukraine.
“I don’t care how they take him out,” Mr. Graham said. “I don’t care if we send him to The Hague and try him. I just want him to go.”
Mr. Graham faced blowback from lawmakers in both parties earlier this month after alluding on Twitter to Mr. Putin’s assassination.
“Is there a Brutus in Russia?” he wrote. “Is there a more successful Colonel Stauffenberg in the Russian military? The only way this ends is for somebody in Russia to take this guy out. You would be doing your country — and the world — a great service.”
The Stauffenberg remark was a reference to a German officer who tried to assassinate Hitler during World War II.
Several Republicans spoke out against the remarks, saying advocating for Mr. Putin’s assassination was “an exceptionally bad idea,” and called the tweet “irresponsible, dangerous & unhinged.”
But during Wednesday’s press conference, Mr. Graham doubled down on his calls to remove Mr. Putin from office.
“He needs to be dealt with by the Russian people,” he said. “I’m not asking to invade Russia to take him out. I’m not asking to send American ground forces into Ukraine to fight the Russian army. I am asking the Russian people to rise up and end this reign of terror.”
“I think the world is better off without Putin, the sooner the better, and I don’t care how we do it,” he said.
Earlier Wednesday, Mr. Zelenskyy pleaded for the U.S. to help him battle Russia’s bombardment of his country with a no-fly zone or military equipment to protect Ukraine’s skies, in a live-streamed address to lawmakers of the House and Senate.
“Russia has turned the Ukrainian side into a source of death for thousands of people,” Mr. Zelenskyy told lawmakers. “This is a terror that Europe has not seen, has not seen for 80 years and we are asking for a reply to this terror from the whole world. Is this a lot to ask for — to create a no-fly zone over Ukraine to save people? Is this too much to ask humanitarian — a no-fly zone?”
If not a no-fly zone, giving aircraft for Ukrainians to battle Russia would be the next best option, Mr. Zelenskyy said.
The address was welcomed by lawmakers who consider Mr. Zelenskyy a heroic leader for standing up to Russia. But it also upped the pressure on lawmakers and President Biden to do more for Ukraine, which is virtually alone in its battle against Moscow’s military might.
Mr. Graham said he does not support a NATO-led no-fly zone over Ukraine due to concerns for putting NATO pilots in direct confrontation with Russia. But he said there is bipartisan support, including “more than a handful of Democrats,” for getting the MiGs to Ukraine. He said the additional jets would allow Ukrainians to stand up their own no-fly zone.
Mr. Graham said he plans to introduce a resolution urging the Biden administration to make the transfer of the 28 MiGs in question and to send additional air defense capabilities “that we possess in NATO to allow the Ukrainians to better defend their skies.”
“I am just urging the Senate to speak with one voice to meet the moment,” he said. “We’ve been talking. We have written letters. But now it’s time to take votes.”