Rep. Ruben Gallego wants to help Ukraine fend off Russia, but not with US troops

PHOENIX – U.S. Rep. Ruben Gallego of Arizona said Thursday the U.S. has “a moral obligation” to help Ukraine defend itself against Russia’s invasion, but not with American troops.

“At this point, I don’t think troops should be directly involved,” the Phoenix Democrat and former combat Marine told KTAR News 92.3 FM’s Arizona’s Morning News on Thursday, after Russian troops launched a broad assault on Ukraine. “I mean, we’ve never made the argument to the American public that we should be sending our troops to die for a country that we have no treaty obligation with.”

“But we do have a moral obligation to uphold, and that’s that we should not allow autocratic countries to be attacking democratic countries.”

Gallego said the U.S. should help Ukraine by providing military intelligence and weaponry so they can “kill as many Russians as possible” while also working to destroy Russia’s economy through sanctions.

Gallego, a member of the House Armed Services Committee, also is in favor of deploying U.S. troops as needed to NATO allies in the Baltic region.

Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Tucson is one of several U.S. military installations on standby for deployment. President Joe Biden has already sent additional troops from North Carolina’s Fort Bragg to Poland, and some U.S. troops previously stationed in Germany have been moved to Romania.

“I think what we need to do is we need to make it very clear to Russia that the sanctions will continue until they leave Ukraine,” he said.

“Russia hopes that the West loses attention and cares more about the American dollars than they care about Ukrainian lives or democracy.”

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