Media Contact 202-226-8467

Washington, D.C. – House Foreign Affairs Committee Lead Republican Michael McCaul joined Jake Tapper on CNN’s State of the Union from Poland to discuss the current situation on the ground, the mounting humanitarian crisis, and what more the U.S. needs to be doing to support the Ukrainian people to defend themselves from Putin’s unprovoked full-scale war.

Watch Here

On visiting Ukrainian refugees at the Poland/Ukraine border:

“It’s very emotional, a lot of the members were actually in tears. To see these mothers and their children… I have to say, historically, I’m reminded of when Hitler invaded Poland, the country I’m in right now. This seems eerily similar and watching these refugees coming out of Ukraine, over 100,000 yesterday, over 100,000 today, 1.5 million over the last week and a half and they say it’s only going to get worse as the noose is tightening around the neck of Ukraine.”

On urging the administration to stop funding Putin’s war through Russian energy: 

“…energy, that’s the lifeblood for Putin and I believe he’s using that money to spill blood in Ukraine. We had a conversation with the Secretary [of State] he asked, ‘what do you think of stopping the import of Russian energy in the United States?’ and I strongly encouraged him to do that. I think, symbolically, the idea that we’re funding Putin’s war machine and quite frankly, genocide…that has to stop.”

On NATO’s response:

“I think if Putin has done anything, he’s taken a NATO that was on life support and really unified it against him. [Putin] is trying to put the noose around the neck of Ukraine but I think the noose is going around his neck. He sees the world is against him, this is his greatest fear.”

On potentially sending Polish MiGs to Ukraine

“I strongly urged the Secretary of State yesterday to complete this transaction. The Ukrainians can fly Russian MiGs. But then Poland wants a [backfill]. And that may be possibly F-16s. The…the Chairman and I sign off on these foreign military weapon sales… And if we can arm [Ukraine] to defend themselves, that’s how we beat the Russians.”

###