Obama declined to provide Ukraine with lethal we

Obama declined to provide Ukraine with lethal weapons and instead opted to sanction Russia and give Ukraine tools such as night-vision goggles and communication devices.

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Ambassador Taylor urged Obama to provide Ukraine with lethal weapons, was ‘pleased’ when Trump did
White House Weekly: December 6, 2019



Ambassador William Taylor told Congress that he was “pleased” with President Trump’s decision to provide Ukraine with weapons to defend itself from Russia.

During his impeachment testimony on Wednesday, Taylor explained why he decided to accept Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s offer to return to the department to be the acting U.S. ambassador to Ukraine.

He explained that while he was in the private sector in 2015, he urged President Obama to provide lethal military weapons to Ukraine when Russia started to invade the Crimean peninsula.

Obama declined to provide Ukraine with lethal weapons and instead opted to sanction Russia and give Ukraine tools such as night-vision goggles and communication devices.

“During the 2014 to 2016 period, I was serving outside of government and joined two other former ambassadors to Ukraine in urging the Obama administration officials at the State Department, Defense Department, and other agencies to provide lethal defensive weapons to Ukraine in order to deter further Russian aggression,” said Taylor. “I also supported much stronger sanctions on Russia.”

Taylor added, “I was pleased when the Trump administration provided Javelin anti-tank missiles and enacted stronger sanctions. All to say, I cared about Ukraine’s future and the important U.S. interest there.”

Although Taylor was pleased with the Trump administration’s aid to Ukraine, he said he was hesitant to become the ambassador due to Trump’s treatment of former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Masha Yovanovitch.

Allegations that Trump denied Ukraine military aid unless they investigated former Vice President Joe Biden were the foundation of the House’s impeachment hearings. During his closed-door testimony, it was reported that Taylor thought it was “crazy” to withhold aid from Ukraine.

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