Republican lawmakers and officials, some of whom are otherwise vocal in their opposition to Russian President Vladimir Putin, continue to avoid condemning President Donald Trump’s recent hostile rhetoric toward Ukraine and its leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Over the past week, the president has become increasingly sympathetic toward Russia, which invaded neighbouring Ukraine three years ago.

On Saturday, Trump repeatedly lied about the war to right-wing attendees at the Conservative Political Action Conference, falsely claiming that the US has provided more military and humanitarian assistance to Ukraine than Western Europe, and painting Kyiv as the reason the war has not yet ended.

Now, Republican officials who have spoken out against Russia and supported the US backing of Ukraine are trying to balance those existing positions while remaining loyal to Trump, who has a history of trying to gain favourwith Putin.

Just last week, Senator Roger Wicker called Putin a “war criminal” who should “be in jail for the rest of his life,” Senator John Kennedy said he “makes Jeffrey Dahmer look like Mother Theresa,” and Senator Thom Tillis called him “a cancer and the greatest threat to democracy.” All three senators did not mention Trump by name.

Senate Armed Services Committee Chair Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) heads for votes at the Capitol on Feb. 18 in Washington, D.C. President Donald Trump said that Ukraine "should have never started it" in comments about Russia's February 2022 invasion of the country.

“I think the........

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