Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Robert Menendez
Robert (Bob) MenendezTrump appointee sparks bipartisan furor for politicizing media agency Senate Democrats hold talkathon to protest Barrett's Supreme Court nomination Watchdog confirms State Dept. canceled award for journalist who criticized Trump MORE (D-N.J.) has traveled to Brussels to discuss the Ukraine-Russia crisis with European Union and NATO leaders.
In a statement, he said he looks forward to discussing "challenges created by Russia’s assault on Ukraine, the ongoing civil war and humanitarian crisis in Syria and the sanctions the U.S., Europe and our allies are using to stop Iran in its pursuit of attaining a nuclear capability."
Both the EU’s and NATO headquarters are based in Brussels.
On Saturday, Menendez will deliver a keynote address at the German Marshall Fund’s Brussels Forum.
Menendez introduced legislation that would provide $1 billion in loan guarantees to Ukraine and impose sanctions against Russia. His committee approved the package last week, but the Senate left Washington for another recess without voting on it.
Europe should also impose tougher economic sanctions against Russia, Menendez said in an interview on MSNBC on Wednesday.
“They have the greatest bite at the end of the day,” he said.
NATO’s secretary general, meanwhile, was in Washington Tuesday and Wednesday for meetings with senior Obama administration officials.
Anders Fogh Rasmussen said in a speech at the Brookings Institution that Russia’s aggression is the “gravest threat to European security and stability since the end of the Cold War.”
Therefore, he said, NATO might offer military assistance to Poland, Romania and some of the Baltic states.
