Volodymyr Zelenskyj och Lindsey Graham den 10 juli. (/AP/TT)

Expert: Ukraina förlorar en av sina försvarare i USA

Republikanen Lindsey Grahams död innebär att Ukraina förlorar en av sina försvarare i Washington, säger USA-experten Jan Hallenberg till TT. Graham har lobbat för att utöka sanktionerna mot Ryssland, och har besökt Kyiv ett tiotal tillfällen sedan krigsutbrottet.

– På den republikanska sidan har ju han varit den som drivit detta mer än någon annan, säger Hallenberg, som är professor emeritus i statsvetenskap vid Försvarshögskolan.

Samtidigt ska man inte överdriva Grahams betydelse för Ukraina, menar Hallenberg. Med Donald Trump vid rodret har senaten de senaste åren inte haft en lika framträdande roll i USA:s utrikespolitik som tidigare.

Lindsey Graham dog på lördagskvällen efter plötslig sjukdom. Han blev 71 år.

bakgrund
 
Lindsey Graham
Wikipedia (en)
Lindsey Olin Graham ( GRAM; July 9, 1955 – July 11, 2026) was an American politician and attorney serving as the senior United States senator from South Carolina, a seat he has held since 2003. A member of the Republican Party, he chaired the Senate Committee on the Judiciary from 2019 to 2021. Graham served in the South Carolina House of Representatives from 1993 to 1995 and in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1995 to 2003. Born in Central, South Carolina, Graham earned both a Bachelor of Arts and a Juris Doctor from the University of South Carolina. Before entering politics, Graham served as a member of the Judge Advocate General's Corps in the U.S. Air Force from 1982 to 1988, working as a defense attorney and chief prosecutor in Europe. He later served in the U.S. Air Force Reserve while in Congress. He was awarded a Bronze Star Medal for meritorious service in 2014 and held the rank of colonel. Graham worked as a lawyer in private practice before serving from 1993 to 1995 in the South Carolina House of Representatives and from 1995 to 2003 in the U.S. House of Representatives, where he represented South Carolina's 3rd congressional district. In 2002, Graham was elected to the U.S. Senate. He was reelected in 2008, 2014, and 2020. A war hawk, Graham is a strong advocate for an interventionist foreign policy, including military action against Iran, and strongly supported Israel and close Israel–United States relations. He ran for the Republican nomination in the 2016 U.S. presidential election but dropped out before the primaries began. He was an outspoken critic of the Tea Party movement and Donald Trump's 2016 candidacy, but became a staunch ally after meeting with him in 2017. Graham passed away on July 11, 2026, from a sudden and brief illness.
Omni är politiskt obundna och oberoende. Vi strävar efter att ge fler perspektiv på nyheterna. Har du frågor eller synpunkter kring vår rapportering? Kontakta redaktionen