Mike Pence: Why Supporting Ukraine Is An Investment In Freedom, Not Charity

During a recent visit to Ukraine, I had the privilege of addressing the National Prayer Breakfast and events commemorating the 35th anniversary of Ukraine’s independence from the former Soviet Union, and I was deeply moved by the faith and resolve of their people.

Traveling by plane and a dead-of-night train ride from Poland, one might have expected to find a nation weary after more than four years of Putin’s brutal and bloody war and the daily pummeling of their capital city by the Russian war machine in the days before we arrived.

Instead, on my third visit since the outset of the war in 2022, I found a Ukrainian people hardened and even more determined to win a victory for freedom no matter the odds.

While some Americans have grown callous to grim headlines describing an unmoving and grinding stalemate, President Zelensky and the Ukrainian people have only become more resolved. With many of the loudest and least informed voices in our country on the Left and the Right arguing that Ukraine’s cause is hopeless or that the time has come to negotiate away its future, nothing I saw in Kyiv last week supports that conclusion.

By every measure that truly matters, Ukraine is winning this war. Ukraine remains free. Its government stands. Its soldiers have taken the fight directly into the heart of Russia with unprecedented drone warfare. Its people are unbowed and refuse to surrender. And the blue and yellow flag still flies defiantly over Kyiv.

The Ukrainian people are not asking the free world to fight their war. They are fighting it themselves, through extraordinary courage and sacrifice. They only ask of the free world: that America and our allies continue providing the support they need to repel Putin’s unprovoked invasion and return his aspirations for a new Russian empire to the ash heap of history.

Thirty-five years ago, the Soviet Union collapsed beneath the weight of Communism and its own corruption. The Iron Curtain fell, and captive nations like Ukraine reclaimed their freedom and embraced the Free World, unshackled from the chains of Communism.

Today, Vladimir Putin is trying to reverse history’s verdict. His invasion is not merely another territorial dispute between neighboring states. It is an attempt to resurrect an empire that deserved to die. Like the Soviet despots before him, Putin believes he can erase a distinct nation, language, culture, and people through fear and violence.

He cannot.

Vladimir Putin set out to conquer Ukraine in days, topple its democratically elected government, install a puppet regime, extinguish Ukrainian independence, and break the proud Ukrainian people. More than four years later, he has accomplished none of those objectives.

Russia has paid an enormous price in blood, treasure, and international isolation simply to gain small pieces of territory it cannot hold without constant reinforcement. That is not what victory looks like.

Unable to break Ukraine’s determination on the battlefield, the Kremlin has increasingly turned to terror from the skies, targeting innocent children and civilians. In recent days, Russia has unleashed wave after desperate wave of long-range drones and missiles against Kyiv and other civilian population centers. More than 1,500 attack drones were launched over just four days, as the Kremlin struggles in vain to break the spirit of the Ukrainian people.

The price of stopping dictators always rises when free nations hesitate. Putin will either be stopped in Ukraine or further west. The choice is ours, not his.

Ronald Reagan understood this when he warned, “No Western nation, including the United States, can hope to win its own battle for freedom and survival by sacrificing brave comrades to the politics of international expediency.”

For America and her allies, supporting Ukraine is not an act of charity. Giving Ukraine the means to defeat and repel the Russian war machine serves the vital national interests of the United States of America.

Every dollar invested in helping Ukrainians defeat Russian aggression today reduces the likelihood that American servicemen and women will one day have to confront that aggression themselves under our NATO commitments. This investment also rebuilds our own industrial base, providing jobs and ensuring our own security as the world becomes an increasingly dangerous place.

And more must be done right now.

Congress should act without delay to pass the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia Act. Every additional sanction further isolates the Kremlin, weakens Putin’s ability to finance his war machine, and brings Ukraine one step closer to justice, peace, and victory.

Congress must also ensure that Ukraine continues to receive the military resources it needs to defend its people, protect its skies, and finish this fight.

Thirty-five years ago, Ukrainians reclaimed their freedom from one empire. Today they are ensuring that the dead empire is never resurrected.

Every generation will be tasked to defend freedom. This generation of Ukrainians has done so with extraordinary courage. They deserve more than our admiration. With the steadfast support of every free nation on earth and the arsenal of democracy, Ukraine can win a victory for freedom, for their people, and for freedom-loving people around the world.

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Mike Pence served as the 48th Vice President of the United States. He is founder of Advancing American Freedom and author of “What Conservatives Believe: Rediscovering the Conservative Conscience.”