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“If they are going to be allies, if they want to belong to this Alliance, they have to act as allies. When the rest of the Alliance wants to do something, Hungary has to support that desire.”
Republican senator and co-chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Jim Risch, blocked the agreement on the sale of American weapons to Hungary. It became known on June 14.
Commenting on his decision to the publication Washington Post, the senator said he blocked the deal because the government in Budapest did not want to approve Sweden’s NATO membership.
The government of Hungary planned to buy weapons worth 735 million dollars from the USA. This amount, in particular, included 24 HIMARS missile launchers and more than 100 missiles for them.
Later that week, the press service of Republican Risha also reported on the re-introduction of a bill on the seizure of Russian assets and the transfer of these funds to Ukraine.
Voice of America journalist Kateryna Lisunova talked about these and other initiatives of the senator, in particular, about the potential chances of Kyiv receiving high-range ATACMS missiles. Details – later in the interview.
Kateryna Lisunova, Voice of America: About your decision to block the agreement on the sale of American weapons to Hungary. Why did you decide to take such a step?
Jim Risch, Republican Senator from Idaho: NATO is a very strong military alliance, the strongest in world history. We are bound by common values and a common desire to oppose Russia. One of the important things is the support of NATO’s capabilities, in particular, with regard to the entry of countries that seek to join the alliance. As Finland recently did and as Sweden wants to do. But as of now, Hungary is delaying Sweden’s accession to NATO. Therefore, I have serious reservations about countries that do not act as allies. If they are going to be allies, if they want to belong to that alliance, they have to act like allies. When the rest of the alliance wants to do something, Hungary has to support that desire.
K.L.: Can Hungary somehow bypass this block?
D.R.: No. There are four representatives of Congress (edited by the heads of the international relations committees of the Senate and the House of Representatives), which have the right to stop such deals for the sale of American weapons. And if one of us decides to delay such an agreement, it will be impossible to bypass his decision.
K.L.: REPO Act – the bill on restoring economic prosperity and opportunities for Ukrainians. This the bill aims to to provide additional assistance to Ukraine using confiscated sovereign assets of the Russian Federation. Tell us more about him.
D.R.: The purpose of this bill is simple enough – it was created so that we could get control of all the Russian assets we can get control of, liquidate them and make sure that this money goes to Ukraine to help Ukrainians in all their needs .
Other countries have already started this process. In particular, I have discussed this with my colleagues in Canada and they are already ahead of us in this process. We need to transfer these funds as soon as possible.
K.L.: But in fact, you introduced this bill for the second time. What is the future of this bill in the current year?
D.R.: Well, you can never say for sure here. I mean, we’ll work on getting it approved, as always. But Congress has a very busy agenda, so some things are difficult to agree on quickly. But we will continue our work on it.
K.L.: Regarding ATACMS long-range missiles. A bipartisan resolutionwhich calls on the Biden administration to immediately transfer ATACMS to Ukraine, already passed by the Foreign Affairs Committee of the House of Representatives. ATACMS for Ukraine is also mentioned in the bill on the US Defense Budget, in the version of the House of Representatives. What is the probability that Ukraine can get these missiles in the near future?
D.R.: I think that possibility is quite high. From the very beginning, I said – give Ukraine everything that shoots, as long as it is not a nuclear weapon. Any other weapon that we have should be available to Ukrainians. Whether it’s F-16 fighters or ATACMS missiles, that’s all we have. Of course, it will take time, but we continue to pressure the Biden administration, and they have already stepped up, just as other countries have stepped up to the same effort. So ATACMS is a good weapon, Ukraine should get it, and it should happen as soon as possible.
See also: The draft resolution of ATACMS for Ukraine was approved by the committee of the US Congress
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