Senator Mitt Romney's quote about funding Ukraine

Utah Senator Mitt Romney sat down with Kristen Welker on NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday to discuss funding to Israel and Ukraine among other topics. Romney is in favor of sending additional aid to Ukraine to provide arms to defend the nation against Russia. According to a recent report, a significant portion of approved funds for Ukraine is used domestically to build or replace weapons, with nearly 90 percent benefitting the U.S. rather than directly aiding Ukraine. Most importantly, funding Ukraine defends the democratic nation against Russia expanding into Europe and potentially invading countries who are members of NATO.

“…it's very much in America's interest to see Ukraine successful and to provide the weapons that Ukraine needs to defend itself. Anything other than that would be a huge dereliction of our responsibility, I believe to the world of democracy but also to our own national interest. Because if Putin thinks he can invade his neighbor with impunity and that we're just going to step back, that we're going to say, "Oh, we're tired; we're not going to keep on helping," then, guess what? He's not going to stop. And he's going to go into a NATO nation that's going to draw NATO and our troops into war with Russia. This is in America's interest to make sure that Ukraine puts up a great fight.”–Senator Mitt Romney (R) Utah