Wagner Readout of NATO Parliamentary Assembly Delegation
Dear Friend,
As part of my work on the United States Delegation to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, I recently had meetings with European leaders at the Munich Security Conference in Germany and our NATO Parliamentary Assembly meeting in Belgium. I serve as the Vice Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and I know how crucial our partnership with NATO allies is to maintaining global stability and a strong national security here at home.
Our delegation held multiple bilateral meetings with high-level leaders, including Albin Kurti, Prime Minister of Kosovo, Boris Pistorius, Germany’s Minister of Defence, and Jonas Gahr Støre, Norway’s Prime Minister. These bilateral meetings better inform my work on the Foreign Affairs Committee, and their insights on major foreign policy issues, including Russia's war on Ukraine, will help us strengthen our NATO partnerships.
I met with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and underscored the importance of energy security and the role U.S. Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) has in countering Russia’s influence. The Biden Administration’s recent arbitrary and indefinite pause on U.S. LNG exports is a slap in the face to our allies, who are relying on the United States to help them end their dependence on Russian energy. I pressed Chancellor Scholz to transfer Taurus long-range missiles to Ukraine—weapons that can make a real difference on the battlefield and help Ukraine win.
I spoke with Alexei Navalny’s widow, Yulia, in Munich and expressed my condolences for the death of her husband in a Russian gulag. She is ready to continue her husband’s work and fight for all those who wish to see the brutality of Putin and his cronies come to an end. Putin is an existential threat to our world who will stop at nothing to expand his communist dictatorship, all at the expense of innocent civilians. He will march on and invade our allies and other democratic nations and he must be stopped. Putin is aligned with countries like China and Iran, and is a direct threat to our freedoms and security here at home. The murder of Alexei Navalny is a desperate attempt by Vladimir Putin to intimidate everyday Russians into accepting this deeply dangerous agenda.
I met with the Ministers of Defense and Foreign Affairs for the Netherlands and had a productive conversation about the growing strength of NATO and our commitment to countering Russia’s aggression and sharing the burden of supporting Ukraine. The Prime Minister of the Netherlands is poised to become the next head of NATO, and hearing their insights was especially instructive as we look ahead to working with him. I am gratified that so many of our NATO allies are making immense sacrifices to meet (and even exceed) their 2% of GDP defense spending target well ahead of schedule. We also held a women legislators’ event where we examined each of our nations’ role in repelling the evil of Vladimir Putin’s reckless and indiscriminate war.
Our delegation met with Volodymr Zelensky, the President of Ukraine, and our conversation only reaffirmed my commitment to supporting Ukraine in this absolutely unjust war. Hearing the stories of the brave Ukrainians fighting for the freedom of their families and their fellow countrymen and women was a searing reminder of the brutality of Vladimir Putin and the strength of the Ukrainian people. Congress must pass a comprehensive national security package that addresses support for Ukraine as well as our own domestic security.
With Iran actively aiding Russia in its war on Ukraine, Middle Eastern security clearly has ramifications for NATO. Time and again, we reminded our allies of the existential threat Israel is facing in the Middle East and the threat posed by Iran’s influence. Hamas, Iran, and the terrorist puppets that do Tehran’s bidding despise the U.S. and our allies. They will stop at nothing to harm our interests—including by recklessly attacking U.S. troops and civilian vessels, incredibly dangerous actions that raise the risk of escalation in the region.