White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki on Wednesday slammed Missouri senator Josh Hawley’s call for the US to retract support for Ukraine becoming a signatory of the North Atlantic Treaty as “not aligned with long standing bipartisan American values” and the result of the senator “parroting Russian talking points”.
Speaking at the White House daily press briefing, Ms Psaki was asked about comments Mr Hawley made to Axios in which he said keeping the US commitment to Nato’s open-door policy for Ukraine and Georgia — first laid out by President George W Bush at the 2008 Bucharest Summit — could undermine US efforts to counter China.
President Joe Biden and other Nato leaders have refused to acquiesce to Russian president Vladimir Putin’s demand that Nato be barred from Ukraine membership as a condition of removing the 100,000 troops he has deployed along his country’s border with Ukraine.
Ms Psaki said of Mr Hawley’s comments: “if you are digesting Russian misinformation, and parroting Russian talking points, you are not aligned with long standing bipartisan American values, which is to stand up for the sovereignty of countries like Ukraine ... their right to choose their own alliances, and also to stand against very clearly the efforts or attempts or potential attempts by any country to invade and take territory of another country”.
She added that her response to Mr Hawley also applied “to others who may be parroting the talking points of Russian propagandists leaders”.
