US Senator Lindsey Graham didn’t say a word about “investing in the death of Russians.” Reuters.
In a video first distributed by the Office of the President of Ukraine, the agency learned, the senator’s two sentences followed each other: “And the Russians are dying” and “We’ve never spent money so well.”
But in fact, these two statements were made in different parts of the meeting with the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky. This was confirmed by the full recording of the conversation, which was later obtained by Reuters.
Graham began the conversation by saying that the resistance of the Ukrainians reminded him of the heroic pages of American history. “There was a time when we were like this, we wanted to be free or die,” the Senator said.
“You’re free now. That’s what we’ll do,” said Zelensky. “And the Russians are dying,” said the Senator. “Yes, but they came to our territory. “We are not fighting on their land,” the Ukrainian president replied.
But Russian officials attributed Graham’s praise for the benefits of US aid directly to his comments on Russian deaths in the conflict, according to Reuters.
The senator also emailed the agency his reaction to the incident. In particular, Graham said in a conversation with Zelensky he mentioned Ukraine’s adoption of the American mantra: “Live free or die.”
Earlier it was reported that Zelensky was at this meeting. He thanked Graham for his “unshakable position and contribution to the strengthening of Ukraine’s defense capabilities”.