Cruz to visit Ukraine; region, Israel on list

AUSTIN, Texas -- U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas will visit Ukraine this month and meet with leaders of the protest movement that forced out the country's pro-Russian president.

Frequently mentioned as a potential 2016 White House contender, Cruz also will visit other eastern European countries and Israel.

Cruz said Tuesday that he will meet with political, military, business and religious leaders in each country but declined to provide details, citing security concerns. His office said the visit will include meetings with protest leaders in Ukraine, which has scheduled a May 25 presidential vote.

Cruz, a Republican, is a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee. The trip is sponsored by Secure America Now, a conservative foreign-policy group, and Cruz will be the only lawmaker on the trip, his office said.

"Ukraine right now is facing an enormous threat from a resurgent Russia. [Russian President] Vladimir Putin has been quite naked about his desire to reconstitute as much as possible the old Soviet Union," Cruz said. "I have a particular responsibility to assess firsthand the current and future military threats that could jeopardize our safety and the security of our allies."

Cruz criticized President Barack Obama's administration as "tepid" in its response to the crisis in the Ukraine. He renewed his call for the U.S. to install anti-ballistic missile batteries in Poland and the Czech Republic as safeguards for eastern Europe, and push for liquefied natural gas exports to reduce Ukraine's dependence on Russia.

Cruz brushed off a question about his political future.

"The objective here is to learn and listen and see firsthand the challenges and threats facing our national security," he said.

Ukraine's caretaker government rose to power in February after the ouster of Russia-friendly President Viktor Yanukovych after months of protests in Kiev. Russia later annexed Crimea, and on Monday, pro-Moscow insurgents in eastern Ukraine declared independence and also sought to join Russia.

Last week, the U.S. State Department issued a travel warning for U.S. citizens to defer all nonessential travel to Ukraine and avoid all travel within the eastern parts of the country. The warning cited the "possibility of violent clashes between pro-Russian and pro-Ukrainian groups and the presence of Russian military forces in the Crimean Peninsula and on the eastern border of Ukraine."

A Section on 05/14/2014

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