Washington, D.C. — Iowa Senator Joni Ernst is back after leading a weekend trip to Germany and Poland where she and nine other U.S. Senators met with government officials, refugee organizations and U.S. military commanders in Europe.
She says the U.S. must send more lethal aid to Ukraine.
It’s the second bipartisan group of Senators to travel to the region in the past week. Ernst says the group met with Ukrainian refugees as well.
Ernst says the U.S. and its NATO allies must figure out a way to get the Russian made fighter jets Poland has offered to Ukraine and to then equip Poland with American-made F-16s.The delegation also discussed whether the U.S. should set up a speedier process to accept refugees from Ukraine, but Ernst says that doesn’t seem to be needed.
Ernst, who is a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, says Vladamir Putin is a war criminal and should be held to account by the International Criminal Court.
But Ernst says the focus now should be on helping Ukraine win the war.
