During a recent appearance at Steve Bannon's "War Room," Luna said she took a trip to meet with representatives from the parliament in Poland in May, along with four other Republicans and two Democrats. This is how she learned about Kyiv's demand for help in the war against Russia in the form of payments and fighter jets.
"They want to not only demand that Americans pay $200 every single day, every American in the country because it is our 'obligation' according to Ukraine so that they can defend the western world from Russia. But they are also saying that they want F-35s," she said. "And if that isn't crazy enough, they're saying that after Russia leaves Crimea, where their head is, they're going to potentially privatize and create a mercenary army similar to the Wagner Group. So that is the mindset of Ukraine," Luna said.
The Wagner Group is a private militia group that took the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut earlier in the Russia-Ukraine war before handing it over to Russian President Vladimir Putin's troops. After more than a year, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Wagner's leader, staged a short-lived coup that failed. However, Putin met with the leader in the days following.
As a guest on Bannon's Tuesday show, Luna pointed out the absurdity of the United States' continuous support of Ukraine. She even called out President Joe Biden's administration for stepping up military assistance to Ukraine, saying the crisis in the Eastern Europe nation is "not our problem."
"I want to remind everyone that Ukraine had the option to join NATO and they didn't," Luna told Bannon. "So, they want to get housing insurance essentially after their house flooded and that's not our problem. We don't represent Ukraine, we represent the United States."
According to the representative from Florida's District 13, Biden is causing America to "hemorrhage money to give it to Ukraine" and emphasized how unsure she is that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's troops "would have the military capabilities to actually take on Russia" if the United States did not stick its head into the conflict.
Luna co-sponsors bill to halt US transfer of cluster bombs to Ukraine
Luna said she co-sponsored, along with Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) and Rep. Sara Jacobs (D-CA), the amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act to stop the transfer of cluster munitions. She proved she walks the talk.
Biden announced last Friday the United States will send cluster munitions to Ukraine, part of an $800 million package of military aid despite the declaration of then-White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki in a February 28, 2022 briefing, condemning the use of cluster bombs in the conflict, saying it was a "war crime." And now the POTUS claimed to approve sending these war weapons because 'Russia used them first,' implying that only the 'bad guys' use them.
"Not only are they highly dangerous for civilians and children," Luna said, but "there is a potential that these will be unexploded ordinance and that there will have to be a massive demining effort afterward."
On Monday, Gaetz tweeted, "I will be the Republican co-sponsor on the NDAA amendment introduced by Rep. Sara Jacobs to stop the transfer of cluster bombs. These cluster bombs will not end the war in Ukraine and will not build a more stable country. Children will be left without limbs and without parents because of this decision if we do not work together in a bipartisan fashion to stop it."
BREAKING: I will be the Republican co-sponsor on the NDAA amendment introduced by @RepSaraJacobs to stop the transfer of cluster bombs.
These cluster bombs will not end the war in Ukraine and will not build a more stable country.
Children will be left without limbs and without… pic.twitter.com/xmu8KAWPEt
— Rep. Matt Gaetz (@RepMattGaetz) July 10, 2023
Meanwhile, at the NATO Summit in Vilnius in Lithuania, Biden acknowledged that the alliance did not invite Ukraine to membership during the summit as it works on "necessary reforms" but he offered a joint declaration of support for Ukraine in strengthening the country's military capability, protecting the country from future attacks.
"We're not waiting on that process to be finished to boost the country's security," he explained. "Mr. Zelensky and I talked about the kind of guarantees we could make in the meantime… And so today, the long-term commitments we're making are backed up by the notion that in the meantime, we're going to provide security to Ukraine for its needs and against any aggression that may occur."
The announcement came one day after Zelensky decried NATO's "absurd" refusal to offer an invite or timetable for Ukraine's entry into the alliance. The Ukrainian president may be disappointed over the lack of a membership timetable but none of that tension was present when Biden and Zelensky stood in front of cameras the next day.
Zelensky claimed that the summit results "had been good overall and welcomed a flurry of announcements of new military aid from allies."
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