CLEVELAND — When Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine two years ago, there was bi-partisan support in the Ohio delegation for providing financial aid and weaponry to Ukraine. Senator Rob Portman, who was co-chair of the Senate's Ukraine Caucus and Sen. Sherrod Brown were on the same page regarding their calls for Washington to do its part.
With Portman's retirement came a splitting of the delegation as his replacement in the Senate, JD Vance, mostly opposed financial assistance. As Ohio Republicans get set to pick a candidate to be their party's nominee to challenge Sen. Brown in the fall, we asked the three hopefuls, Bernie Moreno, Matt Dolan and Frank LaRose, where they stood on future financial aid for the war-torn country.
Moreno told News 5 that after a decades-long involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan, the U.S. should not be funding what he called "another endless war."
"So we should be driving towards peace, that's where most Americans are," Moreno said. "We got to put the interests and well-being of America before anything else, and that's what I'm going to advocate for in D.C."
But would that be through more aid since what the U.S. supplies is running out?
"No, absolutely not. Because we've already spent $110 billion, another $60 billion to have a bloody stalemate doesn't accomplish anything. What we need to do is we need to drive towards peace. We need to make certain that we put a peaceful settlement of that conflict and end it and move on and not fund another stalemate."
When asked what message that would send to our allies, to Vladimir Putin and President Xi in China, he said, "It sends a message that America's going to ensure peace and stability around the world. That we are the country and the Republican Party that is ensuring that we don't have conflicts around the world."
Matt Dolan, though, believes that's a message that's only sent by having the back of Ukraine, whose protection we promised in 1994 when they gave up their share of the old Soviet Union's nuclear arsenal.
"Here's what I know when our friends, our allies and our enemies know America keeps its word, Americans are safer," Dolan said. "So we need to continue to provide the ammunition and the weaponry to Ukraine."
Failure to do so, he said, may create a situation where America is forced to deal with an even bigger mess.
"Ukrainians are not asking for American women to fight side by side with them, but if we appease Putin, we're going to send American boys and girls to Poland and the Baltics and Western Europe and perhaps even the Pacific. We have got to continue our obligation," Dolan said. "We got a lot of issues at home we've got to take care of, but we can do both."
Frank LaRose says his position falls in between Dolan and Moreno.
"The smart strategy is that we do the things that need to be done to bring this to a quick end, and those are things like making the sanctions work the way they are supposed to. They are not working right now," LaRose said. "As Green Berets, what we do is train foreign militaries, it's kind of our specialty. Right now the only country that's helping to train the Ukrainians is the U.K. and they don't have enough people to do it."
But as far as further financial assistance?
"I would absolutely be one of the voices saying not another penny for Ukraine until we secure our U.S. - Mexican border, not another penny," LaRose said. "And then once we get those priorities worked out yes there are things that we can do to make sure that this comes to an expedient end."
News 5 also spoke to the candidates about their views on abortion. You can watch their responses in the player below:
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