In a viral video making the rounds on Twitter, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said if his country loses, Russia will push further west, and the United States will need to put boots on the ground. Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL) responded to the video with a tweet of her own, saying, "Zelensky’s comments have gone too far."
"Zelensky’s comments have gone too far. Here are some facts and why this is dangerous," Rep. Luna tweeted.
In her video, Rep. Luna says Pres. Zelensky's claims of Russia pushing into the Baltic countries that are part of NATO is "false" and accuses him of "fearmongering."
Zelensky’s comments have gone too far.
Here are some facts and why this is dangerous. pic.twitter.com/dpvY17fCpc— Anna Paulina Luna (@realannapaulina) March 1, 2023
"If you haven't seen the video yesterday that went viral of Zelensky claiming that if he doesn't continue to receive funding, that Russia's going to go ahead and go into these Baltic NATO countries and it's going to start World War III. First of all, it's false. I believe that he's fearmongering for more money to fund his war," Rep. Luna says.
This echoes similar concerns raised by Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) and Rep. Mike Waltz (R-FL) in a recent Armed Services Committee hearing, citing Ukrainian corruption.
Additionally, she points out that the controversial annexation of Crimea by Russia in 2014 received nowhere near the international response.
"I want to remind people that when Russia went into Crimea in 2014, no one said anything. It was not all of a sudden this threat and act of war," Luna adds.
Finally, she asks under what authority Zelensky; as a foreign president; can say the US will have to send troops, when Congress has not even declared war on Russia?
Moreover, at what point will the US reach its limit in supporting Ukraine if Zelensky is making this sort of statement?
Furthermore, our continued funding may already be interpreted as an act of aggression as is.
"This is a foreign entity; a president, that's basically stating that the United States will have to send our sons and daughters to die for his war that we haven't even voted on as a Congress. At what point do we as a Congress come together and say, 'we are no longer going to send funding.' This is going to be considered in some countries; some countries would already consider it an act of aggression if we continue to do what we're doing with Ukraine. This, guys; you never want to follow someone blindly that's making calls for war. Man or woman, it's not a good sign, and this right now is we need to pull back from immediately."
