Republican lawmaker hits out at colleagues: 'They would like to see Russia win'

A U.S. Republican lawmaker on April 18 hit out at members of his own party who are opposed to sending military aid to Ukraine, saying they "would like to see the Russians win."

In an interview with C-SPAN, Don Bacon laid out the dire situation Ukraine finds itself in on the battlefield, saying if the bills do not pass, "the Russians will be in Kyiv."

After months of delays and several versions of the foreign aid bill derailed by political infighting, House Speaker Mike Johnson unveiled his plan earlier this week to vote on the package as four separate bills on April 20.

Yet some members of the Republican party – notably Marjorie Taylor Greene – continue to criticize support for Ukraine and have threatened to try to ouster Johnson if he goes ahead with the bill.

"Unfortunately, a few of my colleagues would like to see the Russians win. I don't know why that is the case. I think it's a terrible thing," Bacon said.

"Ukraine wants to be free. They want to have a free market economy. They want to be part of the West, and it can be a game changer for Europe, for Ukraine, to do that."

These sentiments were also expressed by his Republican colleague Dan Crenshaw earlier in the day.

"I guess their reasoning is that they want Russia to win so badly that they want to oust the Speaker over it," Crenshaw said, adding: "I mean, it’s a strange position to take."

According to Bloomberg, House Democrats have said they will support Johnson's series of bills and could also shield Johnson from an attempt by the conservatives to oust him.

Should the bills pass the House, they will be sent for an additional vote to the Senate as early as next week.

President Joe Biden has already said that he will sign the package right after it passes Congress.

Ukraine’s ambassador ‘cautiously optimistic’ about upcoming US aid vote

“From our intense work with both parties and committee approval of voting procedures today, I am cautiously optimistic this time,” Ukraine’s ambassador to the U.S., Oksana Markarova, told the Kyiv Independent on April 19.

The Kyiv IndependentMartin Fornusek