Rep. Keith Self discusses meeting Ukraine's president as part of congressional delegation
NORTH TEXAS (CBSNewsTexas.com) – North Texas Congressman Keith Self, R-3rd District, shared with CBS News Texas a photo of him meeting Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. "We got a great conversation with him about his priorities going forward."
The meeting in Kyiv Tuesday was part of a delegation that included North Texas Congressman Jake Ellzey, R-6th District, and another Texan, Michael McCaul, R-10th District, who chairs the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
The congressional delegation's trip had been planned for weeks Self said, and came one day after President Joe Biden's secret visit to Ukraine and his meeting with President Zelenskyy.
Self spoke from Poland Wednesday and said he's growing more concerned now that China is considering providing weapons and ammunition to help Russia in its war against Ukraine.
"We must not want this to go into NATO or between the U.S. and China," he said. "That must not happen. We must not have nuclear weapons involved. If we can keep this confined to the current battlefield, I would be all-in for that because we cannot let this get to escalate further."
Self said Russian President Vladimir Putin attacked Ukraine one year ago this week because he didn't suffer any consequences after he invaded the nation of Georgia in 2008 and seized Crimea from Ukraine in 2014.
He also cited President Biden's decision to suddenly withdraw from Afghanistan in August of 2021. "Frankly, this is happening because Putin feels emboldened. To allow him to take even part of a sovereign nation as he has done before would further embolden him."
Self said the House Foreign Affairs Committee is discussing what it can do going forward to make Russia's war against Ukraine as short as possible.
He also disagreed with some Republicans and others who say the U.S. should focus only on securing its own southern border.
Self said Americans should be doing both. "I'm not for giving any blank check to anybody. But I am for giving Ukraine what they need to defend their homeland because that's what I'm asking the administration to do on the southern border and that's what we as the leader of the west, the leader of the western alliance, must do in Ukraine or we're going to have Putin on the loose."
In Dallas Wednesday, Senator John Cornyn said he believes Putin won't stop with Ukraine and that he needs to be stopped.
Cornyn said Ukraine deserves continued support from the U.S.
The President and members of Congress traveled from Poland to Ukraine and back aboard a train, because a plane would've been too risky.
Self will return to the U.S. later this week.
Congressman Ellzey returned to the U.S. Wednesday and was unavailable for an interview.