text: SENATORS SIGNAL UKRAINE SUPPORT: Bipartisan leadership on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee introduced legislation designed to increase U.S. support to Ukraine. Under the Guaranteeing Ukraine’s Autonomy by Reinforcing its Defense Act (GUARD Act), the U.S. would increase military training and lethal aid to Ukraine, fully enforce sanctions on Russia’s Nord Stream 2 pipeline, designate Russia as a “state sponsor of terrorism,” among other efforts. (AC: Passage of this act will be seen as escalatory by Russia, but the current political climate makes its fate uncertain. The U.S. doesn’t have broad popular support for military intervention in Ukraine, which makes backing adventurism politically risky just before the midterms. GOP supporters of Ukraine often have difficulty explaining exactly why the U.S. shouldn’t abandon Ukraine apart from general support for Western ideals. The past round of $300 million to Ukraine could purchase about 2,000 javelin missiles, or twice the number received by the mujahideen in Afghanistan. –