Russia's War Against Ukraine
OP-ED
John McCain: The Russia-Ukraine cease-fire is a fiction
A worker repairs a church destroyed as a result of shelling between Ukrainian forces and pro-Russian separatists in Donetsk on June 26. NATO warned there was still a risk of heavy fighting in Ukraine and urged Russia to halt its support for pro-Moscow rebels. In recent weeks there has been an upsurge in fighting in a conflict which has already killed some 6,500 people, despite a February ceasefire brokered in Minsk which has been regularly breached.
Last weekend, I traveled with Sens. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) and Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) to eastern Ukraine to meet with the courageous men and women fighting there for their country’s freedom and future. I arrived on a solemn day as Ukrainian volunteers grieved the loss of two young comrades killed by Russian artillery the day before. They had lost another comrade a few days before that, and four more the previous week. Their message to me was clear: The cease-fire with Russia is fiction, and U.S. assistance is vital to deterring further Russian aggression.
