Iowa’s U.S. senators back Ukraine ‘lethal aid’

Iowa’s Republican U.S. Sens. Chuck Grassley and Joni Ernst said Wednesday they support U.S. military aid to Ukraine, though Grassley cautioned against starting World War III.

Grassley said the U.S. should do "all we can to help (Ukrainian President Volodymyr) Zelenskyy and his people short of getting the United States into a third world war."

Zelenskyy spoke to Congress on Wednesday, asking the U.S. for air support to protect the skies in Ukraine as Russia has continued to bomb cities and civilian targets.

Grassley cited the $14 billion Congress approved last week for Ukrainian humanitarian and military aid.

"Now, if that's not enough money, it's pretty easy for us to appropriate more money," he told reporters.

"Any American sees that video that we saw in the middle of the (Zelenskyy) speech would just say how terrible Putin is and how stupid he is and how egomaniac he is, and he may be sick, and maybe all the above."

Ernst, a veteran and member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, on Twitter implored the Biden administration to allow Poland to fly in MiG fighter jets to Ukraine so Ukraine can defend its air space.

The Biden administration pulled out of the deal for concerns it would escalate into a global conflict with Russia.

Ernst, who commended Zelenskyy as a "fearless leader," called on Biden to "immediately" provide Ukrainians with "the lethal aid they urgently need."

"Pres. Zelenskyy is showing strength in the face of Putin’s war of aggression against his sovereign nation," Ernst tweeted. "America stands with the people of Ukraine in their fight for freedom. Pres. Biden, send the MiGs."