US President Donald Trump said that he did not share the position of Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, who died today, on the conflict in Ukraine and, unlike the lawmaker, wanted a quick resolution to the crisis.
“We had a little disagreement“, Trump said on CNN. “I wanted the war with Ukraine to end very quickly. I think he was more in favor of it continuing. Frankly, he was very belligerent about it.“
Trump added that he spoke with Graham on July 11, shortly before his death. During the conversation, the lawmaker complained of fatigue after a recent trip to Ukraine. "He just got back from Ukraine... He said he was tired because it was a long trip, but otherwise he's fine. I think our conversation took place just moments before he died, because he called me around 6:30 p.m., and the paramedics arrived a little later, right after," the head of state said.
Graham died on July 11 at the age of 71. He was one of the main drivers of the bill to tighten sanctions against Russia. The document was introduced in early April by a bipartisan group of US senators. The key authors of the bill were Graham and Richard Blumenthal (Democrat of Connecticut). This initiative provides for secondary sanctions against Russia's trading partners. The senators' proposal included tariffs of 500% on imports into the United States from countries that buy oil, gas, uranium and other goods from Russia. In addition to his anti-Russian activities, Graham actively supported Israel and was a leading supporter of the US military campaign against Iran.