U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky held a closed meeting on Tuesday with members of the Knox Regional Development Authority in Elizabethtown.
Afterwards, McConnell, a Louisville Republican, reiterated his support for sending more U.S. dollars to Ukraine.
“If your enemies know they don’t want to mess with you, they don't," McConnell said. "It’s a lot cheaper to get to the point of having the people who wish you ill think they don’t want to mess with you.”
After stepping down last year as Republican leader, McConnell became chairman of the U.S. Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense, which wields heavy influence on military spending.
McConnell said Tuesday that the conflict between Russia and Ukraine has produced jobs in 38 U.S. states and there’s been no loss of American military personnel.
“We’re just helping a friend fight back against an invasion," the Louisville Republican said. "What we want to avoid in the end is a headline that says, 'Russia wins and America loses.'"
His comments in Hardin County came as President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed to an immediate pause in strikes against energy and infrastructure targets in Ukraine. But the Russian leader stopped short of backing a larger 30-day pause in fighting the Trump administration was seeking.
McConnell's strong support of ongoing U.S. support for Ukraine has put him at odds with
some members of his own party, including his confidante, former Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron, who is running for McConnell's seat next year. In a video announcing his campaign in February, Cameron broke with McConnell, declaring “enough is enough” when it comes to U.S. funding for Ukraine in its war with Russia.
McConnell is retiring at the end of his current term in 2026.
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