On September 17, Davit Kartvelishvili, a member of the “People’s Power” party, posted about the “political transformation” of U.S. Republican Senator Lindsey Graham and shared two quotes attributed to the senator to illustrate the change in his stance:
September 2023 – ‘With Ukraine, we have a unique asset, this country is ready to fight until the last Ukrainian, and in the meantime, we have not lost a single American soldier, while many Russians are dying. America has never made a better investment.’
September 2024 – ‘The war in Ukraine was started by Biden and Obama. Therefore, the hope of ending this war through them is an illusion. Only Trump can end the war, and it must be done through negotiations with Russia.'”
Kartvelishvili’s post was disseminated by several media outlets, including Marshalpress, news.ge, and Newshub.
Davit Kartvelishvili is sharing Senator Lindsey Graham’s quotes in a manipulative and interpretative manner, creating the impression that Graham’s stance on Ukraine has changed significantly in the past year. While Graham has indeed criticized the Biden administration, he has not blamed them for starting the war, and the senator continues to actively support Ukraine.
Lindsey Graham spoke with Fox News on September 15 about Ukraine and Middle Eastern issues. Graham did criticize the Biden-Harris administration, but he did not directly blame Biden or Obama for starting the war. He emphasized the importance of Ukraine putting more pressure on Russia and attacking strategic targets deeper within Russia.
Graham stated: “This administration has been a disaster on the world stage. They have been slow to deliver the weapons, slow to deliver the jets, they have been slow to allowing Zelenskyy to put pressure on Russia to get them at the table. Airbases inside of Russia are being used to kill Ukrainian civilians. Most NATO allies want Ukraine to use weapons more effectively.”
During the interview, Fox News’ journalist asked Graham about Zelensky’s position that the war should not end with Ukraine giving up territories, to which Graham responded that Zelensky is right, aiming to end the war in a way that avoids future conflicts.
Graham said: “[Zelensky] is right to want to end the war in such a way not to start a new war. The last person I would listen to about how to end the war is the Biden administration or the Obama’s team. In 2014, we had an end to the war in Ukraine, which led to another invasion. Here’s what Trump will do – he will end the war in a way not to entice China to invade Taiwan and he will end the war in a way to prevent a third invasion. Biden has no plan to end this war that is effective. I’m listening listen to Zelensky, and he has a plan that is coming out in about a week. What we need is an American president who can get Putin and Zelensky in the same room and end this war to make sure we don’t have another war. The whole world is watching.”
Graham’s full comments show that while he is critical of the Biden administration, he remains supportive of Ukraine and wants the war to end from a strong position without territorial losses, ensuring no future conflict.
A few days before the Fox News interview, Lindsey Graham made similar comments to CBNS, noting that Trump would create favorable conditions for Ukraine to end the war. Graham also said that, before the election, Ukraine should be allowed to use weapons more effectively against Russian strategic targets, and sanctions should be tightened. After the election, another aid package should be given to Ukraine.
Notably, on September 11, Senator Graham, along with Democratic Senator Blumenthal, introduced another bill supporting Ukraine after their sixth visit to the country.
Graham said: “This legislation supports Ukraine in various ways and sends a clear message to the brave Ukrainian fighters that we stand by them. It also clearly states that we will not give in to Russian aggression.”
It is also worth noting that Kartvelishvili manipulates Graham’s 2023 quote to some extent. The U.S. senator has indeed previously stated that supporting Ukraine against Russia is one of America’s best investments and that Russia is being weakened without the loss of American soldiers. However, he did not mention Russian deaths and U.S. support in the same context. Similar manipulative information was spread in May 2023. For more details, see “Myth Detector’s” article:
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