Graham told “Fox News Sunday” guest host Bret Baier the U.S. was fighting “for the future of Europe” against Russia amid the war in Ukraine. “NATO needs to get bigger, not smaller,” he said. “If Finland and Sweden join NATO and Europe breaks away from dependence on Russian oil and gas, and [Russian President Vladimir] Putin is declared a war criminal, that would be the best outcome for the world writ large.”
Graham has previously espoused controversial rhetoric against Russia and Putin. In March, he called for the assassination of Putin in a tweet.
Graham on Sunday again said Putin “must go” but called for the Russian leader to face prosecution for war crimes instead.
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“If Putin is still standing after all this, the world will be a very dark place,” Graham said. “China’s going to get the wrong signal, and we’ll have a mess in Europe for decades to come. … If we back off prosecuting Putin as a war criminal, all the laws on the books become a joke.”
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Russia, which is approaching its third month of the Ukraine invasion, has been charged with multiple war crimes for killings in Bucha and bombings in the city of Mariupol.
Graham said the U.S. should do “everything in its power” besides sending soldiers into Ukraine to deter Russia from invading other countries but raised concerns that Putin was “getting desperate” and could launch a nuclear attack against Ukraine.
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“If he explodes a nuclear weapon inside of Ukraine to break our will, to me that will be an attack on NATO,” said Graham. “The radiation will go all over Europe.”
“There is no off-ramp in this war. Somebody is going to win and somebody is going to lose, and I hope and pray and do everything in my power to make sure Ukraine wins,” he also said, urging the U.S. to “triple down” on its help for Ukraine.
Graham said there can’t be a negotiated peace because Ukraine will never yield territory to Russia — and because the international community needs to hold Russian President Vladimir Putin accountable for war crimes.
“If Putin loses, then I think that’s a great day for Europe, a great day for the United States,” Graham said.
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Graham said Putin is eager “to rewrite the map of Europe.” He also repeatedly said that the fate of Taiwan could be determined by the outcome of the war.
“If Putin wins, then Taiwan is probably going to be invaded by China,” Graham said.
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