Professor Roman Sheremeta

Jan 17, 2026

“Putin was, is, and will always remain a KGB agent.”

— Roger Wicker, Republican Senator and Chairman of the Armed Services Committee

Key points from his speech exposing putin and supporting Ukraine:

For the past year, Vladimir putin has mocked the Ukraine peace process by steadily escalating his attacks on his neighboring country. He has recently launched the largest air attack the conflict has ever seen and has repeatedly shown that he is not interested in peace talks. He gives lip service to peace, but his actions prove otherwise.

Vladimir putin is unrepentant. He was, is, and will always remain a KGB agent. He is a dictator with decades of bloodshed on his hands. He is the biggest thief in the history of the world—a war criminal who should be behind bars at this moment. And, of course, putin is a liar.

When Vladimir putin smiles at American negotiators, he acts as our friend—and acts as if we believe he is our friend. We have no reason to smile back at putin or to trust him with anything but caution and contempt.

After four years, putin knows a russian victory is not inevitable. More and more, the American people see this and understand it. A November poll found that 70 percent of Americans do not trust putin to honor any peace agreement with Ukraine. He is cut from the same cloth as terrorists across the world and throughout history.

In putin’s attacks on civilians, for example, we see clear parallels with the Hamas terrorists who rampaged through Israeli neighborhoods on October 7. The terrorists are putin’s friends.

And do not forget this—something that is too often underreported: putin has abducted more than 20,000 Ukrainian children and subjected many of them to brainwashing schemes.

putin even echoes the likes of Adolf Hitler. He routinely speaks of “liberating” russian-speaking Ukrainians living in the Donbas and other parts of Ukraine. This is the same vile, absurd pretext Adolf Hitler used when invading the German-speaking regions of neighboring countries, including Poland. That is who Vladimir putin is.

The Ukrainians continue to fight because the alternative is the extinction of their country. The West must stand with them. We must stand with Ukraine.

And we must continue assisting our friends. We need to send a clear message that putin cannot wait us out.