As Ukraine turns 34, South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham recently told All Israel News' Joel C. Rosenberg in an interview that Donald Trump must hit Vladimir Putin with "bone-crushing" sanctions to end the Ukraine war and protect NATO from Russian invasions.

As printed in AllIsraelNews.com:

When President Donald Trump gave the Iranian regime 60 days to make a deal to end its dangerous nuclear program, and stop posing an existential threat to Israel and its neighbors – or face severe consequences – many Israelis worried the American commander-in-chief wasn't serious.

They openly worried that Trump might cut a quick and easy deal with Tehran that could win him the Nobel Prize, but also cut Israel loose.

But Trump proved to be a man of his word.

On Day 61, when Iran's Supreme Leader had repeatedly spurned serious negotiations, Trump gave Israel the green light.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu launched a massive bombing campaign against Iran's nuclear and ballistic missile threats.

And then Trump went further, ordering American B-2 stealth bombers into action.

In less than 40 hours, these American marvels of modern engineering dropped 30,000-pound "bunker buster bombs" on three hardened Iranian nuclear sites, obliterating them all, and setting back Tehran's feverish pursuit of The Bomb by years.

America's enemies were stunned.

America's allies were elated.

Trump's global credibility soared.

TRUMP TURNS HIS EYES ON UKRAINE

Now, Trump has set his sights on ending the brutal, bloody, and seemingly never-ending war in Ukraine.

Once again, his skeptics are openly wringing their hands.

When Trump invited Russian President Vladimir Putin to meet with him face to face in Alaska, critics said he'd be rolled by Czar Putin and strike a quick and easy deal that might win him a Nobel Prize but would cut loose the people and leaders of Ukraine.

Yet, that's not what has happened.

Not yet, anyway.

After returning to Washington, Trump invited Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and key NATO leaders – including French President Emmanuel Macron – to the White House.

Trump briefed them on what exactly happened behind closed doors at the Alaskan summit and then worked with these American allies to chart a path forward toward lasting peace and security in Europe.

TRUMP'S RELATIONSHIP WITH ZELENSKYY IS STEADILY IMPROVING

That meeting went well, far better than the Oval Office meeting in February when Zelenskyy got in an unprecedented, ugly, and terribly counterproductive argument with the Leader of the Free World – and with Vice President JD Vance – on live global television.

To his credit, Zelenskyy soon apologized to Trump and Vance.

Since then, he has worked closely with the White House and Secretary of State Marco Rubio to strengthen U.S.-Ukrainian relations and to craft terms by which this terrible war could come to an end without capitulating to – much less rewarding – the Kremlin.

WHY IS SENATOR LINDSEY GRAHAM BULLISH ON TRUMP'S ABILITY TO STARE DOWN PUTIN?

Enter Sen. Lindsey Graham.

The South Carolina Republican is a close friend and confidante of Trump, especially on matters of foreign policy.

I've known him for years and over the weekend, he and I spoke by phone.

He was home in South Carolina while I had come to Paris for a series of very interesting meetings (which I hope to share with you later).

The timing of our call was important.

Yesterday, nearly 40 million Ukrainians celebrated their nation's Independence Day, even as the country battles with all its might to survive, and prays that the United States and the rest of Europe will help them stop the Russian onslaught once and for all.

Thirty-four years ago this week, the Ukrainian people finally and miraculously regained their freedom – and their sovereignty – after seven decades of being enslaved by the godless, communist, and cruel Soviet Empire, which the late President Ronald Reagan famously and rightly called "the evil empire."

Today, Ukrainians fear being cut loose by the West – and especially by Trump – fears stoked by voices such as Tucker Carlson and others in the MAGA world that routinely praise Putin as a man of peace and consistently castigate Zelenskyy as corrupt and conniving and not worth saving.

Ukrainians worry that such voices will prevail in driving Trump away from them.

Many also remember that Vance once said he didn't care about the Ukrainian war.

That said, I was struck by how bullish Graham is on Trump's resolve and both his ability – and willingness – to stand toe-to-toe with Putin and stare down evil without flinching.

GRAHAM MAKES THE CASE THAT TRUMP IS ALREADY DELIVERING BIG, POSITIVE RESULTS

Graham makes the case that Trump is more than talk.

He has already delivered big and very positive results in Europe.

And he says there is much more to come.

For example, Graham notes that Trump has persuaded NATO leaders to commit to increasing their annual defense spending to 5% of their GDP.

A few years ago, most NATO members were spending less than 2% on their own defenses – some far less – and expecting the American taxpayer to keep shouldering the burden of paying for sufficient defenses against the Russian Red Army.

Those days are over.

Putin's aggression – and Trump's resolve – has entirely changed how NATO leaders think and act.

WILL EUROPE PUT BOOTS ON THE GROUND IN UKRAINE?

Graham notes that Trump has persuaded NATO to spend far more money than it had originally planned to provide defensive weapons for Ukraine.

Now, some NATO leaders are even willing to commit to putting their own troops on the ground inside Ukraine to provide the Ukrainian people security guarantees against future Russian aggression, if an end to the war with Russia can be found.

What's more, Graham told me he believes Trump is getting ready to remove past American restrictions on Ukraine being allowed to fire long-range missiles into Russia to go on offense and inflict far more serious damage on Putin and his forces.

GRAHAM PUSHING TRUMP TO IMPOSE 'BONE CRUSHING' SANCTIONS ON RUSSIA

Now, Graham says he is readying a bill for Trump to impose "bone-crushing" economic sanctions on Putin and the Russian economy if Putin doesn't end this war immediately.

The bill would also hit Communist China and other countries with draconian sanctions if they keep buying cheap Russian oil, giving Putin the funds he desperately needs to continue his barbaric and unconscionable war with Ukraine.

Graham told me that he now has 85 co-sponsors in the Senate.

That's unheard of.

There are only 100 senators – and the chamber is deeply divided – Republicans and Democrats don't agree on almost anything these days.

But they agree on this: Vladimir Putin is a monster, he's the one who started this war, and he must be stopped.

Graham said he also has 100 co-sponsors in the House, and has the support of House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., to move this legislation to an immediate vote.

All he needs now is for Trump to signal that it's time to get the legislation passed, giving him vastly more leverage to force Putin to make a serious deal – and soon.

"Trump is the quarterback," Graham told me.

"He's calling the plays on how to deal with Putin."

"I'm trying to give him tools he needs to bring this war to an end."

Graham told me he believes that Putin did begin making concessions in (the meeting in) Alaska – important ones, and ones that so far are unpublicized – but that far more concessions by Moscow are needed.

"Putin only responds to pressure," Graham said.

"We need to increase the pressure on Russia so Putin will realize it's not in his interest to keep fighting – that's the only way we can bring this war to an end soon and stop all this killing."

NEXT: BRANDING RUSSIA AS A STATE SPONSOR OF TERROR

Graham told me that he is also introducing a new bill next month to designate Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism.

Why?

Because Russia has abducted upwards of 19,000 Ukrainian children and has begun engaging in trafficking them, literally selling them on the Internet and elsewhere.

"During the course of the Russia-Ukraine war, Russia has kidnapped over 19,000 Ukrainian children," Graham wrote in a social media post last week.

"Stealing children from their home country is a despicable and barbaric act."

"As I have been saying since earlier this year, I intend to push legislation to designate Russia a state sponsor of terrorism under U.S. law if they do not return the children. This designation will make doing business with Putin's Russia radioactive for other countries and businesses."

Graham told me that first lady Melania Trump has been great on this issue, drawing attention to the plight of Ukrainian children.

He praised the letter that Melania wrote to Putin and which her husband gave to Putin in Alaska, making him read it while Trump waited.

WHAT EXACTLY IS NEEDED TO END THE WAR IN UKRAINE?

"Ukraine needs three things right now," Graham said before we ended our call.

"First, they need a green light from the U.S. and Europe to go on offense against Russia militarily."

"Second, they need Washington to pass a tough sanctions bill."

"And third, they need Congress to pass a bill that deals with these abducted children."

Graham added, "The West needs moral clarity."

All Americans, all Israelis – indeed, everyone in the West – need to understand that Putin is the aggressor, Ukraine is the victim, the Ukrainian people are fighting valiantly against evil, and they are decimating the Russian military, which is a fear for the U.S. and NATO.

They don't need American boots on the ground, but they definitely need the U.S. and all of NATO to take a firm stand against evil and the tools to finish the job.

Otherwise, if Putin is allowed to prevail – or is rewarded for such naked aggression because of Western weakness and appeasement – Moscow's next move will likely be the invasion of a small NATO country in a bid to keep rebuilding the Evil Empire.

God forbid.

This is exactly the scenario I envisioned in my 2018 political thriller, THE KREMLIN CONSPIRACY, a scenario that could lead directly and irreversibly to World War III and nuclear Armageddon.

I'm praying this never happens – not ever, and certainly not on our watch.

Would you join me?

Republished with permission from All Israel News.