Despite days ago Ukraine's government expressly denying earlier reports in The Washington Post and CNN of a new major Russian troop build-up along the Russia-Ukraine border, a pair of Republican lawmakers are urging the White House to immediately ramp up weapons sales to Kiev. They are citing the threat of "invasion" by Russian forces.
"With the recent massing of Russian forces on the Ukrainian border, we urge your administration to take immediate and swift action to provide support to Ukraine in the form of intelligence and weapons," representatives Mike Rogers and Mike Turner wrote in a letter first reported on by DefenseNews Friday.
Further alarming is that the Congressmen are leading calls for a beefed up American military presence in Ukraine and in the Black Sea region, which is site of recent dangerous intercept encounters between US and Russian aircraft.
"We also urge your administration to deploy a US military presence in the Black Sea to deter a Russian invasion," the letter stated. "Additionally, we urge you to immediately consider an appropriate US military presence and posture in the region and to initiate appropriate intelligence sharing activities between the US and Ukraine to prevent the situation from escalating further."
It appears the pair of Russia hawks are urging such escalatory action literally based on fake news, given as Reuters detailed this week, the government of Ukraine denied the reported Russian troop build-up, and the Pentagon did not confirm it either while downplaying the possibility:
"As of November 1, 2021, an additional transfer of Russian units, weapons and military...