Putin was offered NATO Man of the Year award for uniting Alliance against russia

The russian president vladimir putin's actions in attacking Ukraine have united American lawmakers in their anti-russian sentiment, Senator Lindsey Graham said.

"Putin has done more to unite us in the Senate than anyone else in America. I would give him the NATO Man of the Year award if he would come and receive it," the Republican said on Friday, speaking at the Munich Security Conference, after which he again called for Tomahawk missiles to be sent to Kyiv.

Graham's speech was about a bill he proposed with his Democratic colleague Richard Blumenthal last spring. This initiative would impose 500% duties on US imports of goods from countries that buy russian oil, gas, uranium, and other raw materials. Graham called such restrictions "devastating" for the russian economy. During his speech at the conference, the senator said that his bill now has 85 co-sponsors.

"Do you know how hard it is to get 85 senators to agree on an issue?" he asked rhetorically.

Graham emphasized that he intends to get the law passed so that President Donald Trump has an additional lever of pressure on states cooperating with russia and can admonish them: "You are supporting a killing machine. Do you want normal relations with the United States? Then behave normally."

The senator also noted that although the document is currently stalled in Congress, it will eventually be passed and signed by Trump.

"He probably asked me three times where the bill was, and his reaction went from 'I don't know what to think about it' to 'Yeah, it's a good idea,'" Graham said

As the Ukrainian News agency earlier reported, Republican Senator Lindsey Graham said, that vladimir putin is seeking to seize the whole of Ukraine, and to prevent him, the United States should supply Ukraine with Tomahawk cruise missiles with a range of up to 2,500 kilometers to strike russian military targets.