As talks intensify to end the war in Ukraine, the issue of NATO membership remains a sticking point. Ukraine wants in, and Russia insists that it must remain permanently out. In an interview with Politico, GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham floats a compromise proposal:
- "If you can't get them into NATO right now, my idea ... is to be really clear: Tell Putin if you ever do this again, if there's another incursion by Russia into Ukraine, that leads to automatic admission into NATO by Ukraine as a tripwire."
Graham called Putin a "thug and a bully," and he expressed optimism that President Trump will be able to extract concessions if and when the two talk. The senator also downplayed comments by new defense chief Pete Hegseth, who suggested Ukraine should give up on the idea of NATO membership. "It doesn't matter what Pete says, it doesn't matter how many phone calls are made," said Graham. "What matters is how it ends, if it ends in a way to deter future aggression."
Graham participated in the Munich Security Conference over the weekend, where he declared that Putin has inadvertently strengthened NATO. "If I were nominating somebody to be the NATO Man of the Year, it'd be Putin," Graham said, per CNBC. "He's done more to help NATO than we have. We have two new members [Sweden and Finland]. We're talking about spending more, not less. So he's made a serious miscalculation." (More Lindsey Graham stories.)
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