Rep. Courtney Returns from the Indo-Pacific Following Meeting with Ukrainian President Zelenskyy, AUKUS Dialogues with World Leaders
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Congressman Joe Courtney (CT-02), the Co-Chair of the AUKUS Working Group, issued the following statement after returning from the 21st annual International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) Shangri-La Dialogue alongside a bipartisan Congressional Delegation. While there, the delegation met with the President of Ukraine, as well as government ministers and senior defense officials from across the world to discuss developing national security challenges and AUKUS.
“The 21st annual Shangri-La dialogue came on the heels of the People’s Liberation Army’s extremely aggressive military exercise surrounding Taiwan, reaffirming the critical need for the United States and its allies and partners to come together to ensure a free and open Indo-Pacific through security agreements like AUKUS.
“While there, I had good chance to catch up with U.S. Secretary of Defense, Lloyd Austin, and Australian Minister of Defence, Richard Marles MP, regarding the rapid implementation of AUKUS after last December’s enactment of AUKUS authorities. We also received a spirited brief from Admiral Samuel Paparo, Commander of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, about the need to maintain vigorous, robust Congressional support for construction of Virginia class submarines and U.S. shipbuilding across the board.
“Our five-person Congressional delegation—led by House Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, Michael McCaul, and Ranking Member Gregory W. Meeks (D-NY)—had a surprise invitation from President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to meet with him and his military advisors. He flew into Singapore Saturday evening to update world leaders on his nation’s courageous fight to defend itself from Putin’s vicious invasion and urge continued support ahead of the Ukraine Peace Conference on June 15.
“President Zelenskyy made it clear that passage of national security assistance for Ukraine last month—which secured 311 votes in the U.S. House—has been instrumental in fending off Russia’s indiscriminate attacks on civilians. I expressed my admiration for Ukraine’s astonishing success sinking one-third of Russia’s Black Sea fleet that has allowed Ukrainian grain exports to resume at close to pre-war levels. For naysayers of Ukraine assistance, this triumph, from a country with almost zero naval capacity, defies all the expectations and deserves our continued attention and aid.
Courtney traveled with the Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee Michael McCaul (R-TX), HFAC Ranking Member Gregory W. Meeks, Subcommittee on the Indo-Pacific Chairwoman Young Kim (R-CA), Subcommittee on Middle East, North Africa, and Central Asia Chairman Joe Wilson (R-SC).
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