WASHINGTON — Sen. Rand Paul has been placed on a Ukrainian blacklist for promoting “Russian propaganda,” following months of critical comments about U.S. involvement in the ongoing war.
The country’s Center for Countering Disinformation listed Kentucky’s junior senator among a group of politicians, academics and activists that it sees as hostile to the country as it continues to try to beat back Russia’s five-month invasion.
Former Democratic Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, military and geopolitical analyst Edward N. Luttwak and journalist Glenn Greenwald were also included on the list.
The listing does not include specific reasons for blacklisting Paul, nor does it lay out consequences.
“While I have repeatedly said my sympathies lie with Ukraine, my loyalty is to the United States,” Paul said in a statement Tuesday. “My oath of office obligates me to defend the United States and that includes defending our country from incurring massive new debt no matter how worthy the cause.”
Paul has been a lonely critic of U.S. intervention in this case.
In May, he bucked both political parties by delaying a Senate vote on a $40 billion Ukrainian aid package. He insisted that an inspector general to oversee the spending be included in the authorization. McConnell called his colleague an “isolationist” and added that Paul’s viewpoint represented “a tiny percentage” of the GOP caucus. Paul said his position was “common sense.”
He ended up being one of 11 Senate Republicans to vote against the funding.
In April, the libertarian lawmaker accused President Joe Biden of provoking Russia to invade Ukraine by floating the possibility of Ukraine joining NATO, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
“You could also argue the countries they’ve attacked were part of Russia, or part of the Soviet Union,” Paul said at the time.
Just last week Paul responded to an NPR report that questioned the massive aid package to Ukraine, given the country’s corrupt history.
“We shouldn’t be spending the $,” Paul tweeted last week. “If Congress did approve it, a meticulous investigator would need to oversee your $ being spent in Ukraine at a time when Americans can’t even afford gas or groceries.”
In June, Russia included McConnell on a list of U.S. officials banned from its country.
Russia’s Foreign Ministry announced the GOP Senate leader was prohibited from entering the country due to his role in “formulating the Russophobic policy of the U.S.”
McConnell made a visit to Urkaine in May to show his support and meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
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