“It means starting World War III,” Mr. Rubio said, adding that “people need to understand what a no-fly zone means. It’s not some rule you pass that everybody has to oblige by. It’s the willingness to shoot down the aircraft of the Russian Federation.”
Senator Christopher S. Murphy, Democrat of Connecticut, agreed on “Fox News Sunday”: “I don’t think it’s in our interest, the interest of Europe, to have the United States and Russia — the two world’s biggest, most equipped nuclear superpowers — going to war directly against each other.”
Mr. Murphy said he expected Congress would pass a $10 billion emergency spending bill this week to provide more arms and humanitarian assistance to Ukraine, in response to requests by Ukrainian officials for additional support.
The $10 billion proposal includes $4.8 billion in additional funds for the Pentagon to cover the deployment of U.S. troops to NATO countries, increased intelligence and cybersecurity support and to replenish the weapons the Defense Department has already sent to Ukraine, such as Stinger missiles. It also includes $4.25 billion in new funding for economic and humanitarian assistance for Ukrainians, including the 1.5 million refugees who have already fled from the bombarded nation.
“We need to make sure that we’re reinforcing Ukraine and providing as much lethal aid as possible,” Senator Joni Ernst, Republican of Iowa, said on “Fox News Sunday,” adding that the United States should also reinforce humanitarian aid, “making sure that we are able to provide for those refugees that will be flowing into Europe.”