Hudson: We Can Do More to Help Ukraine

The United States should not enter a war with Russia over its invasion of Ukraine but still has options it can employ to support the besieged country and its people, U.S. Rep. Richard Hudson said Thursday.

Hudson, one of Moore County’s two congressional representatives, was in town Thursday following a key vote in the House Wednesday to send billions in aid to Ukraine. Hudson, a Republican, supported the measure.

Hudson, who currently lives in Cabarrus County and represents the 8th Congressional District, filed earlier this month to represent the newly created 9th district, which includes all of Moore County and several others. More importantly, it also includes Fort Bragg, a key constituency Hudson has developed a strong link to. He said he filed to run for the 9th district largely because of his prior service representing the region and the Army installation’s interests. As Fort Bragg’s representative in Congress, he is particularly passionate about supporting active-duty military, veterans and their families.

In an interview Thursday with The Pilot, Hudson said the Russian invasion of Ukraine and its subsequent devastation has offered a sobering view of the complexity of global affairs. But like most of his colleagues in Congress, Hudson opposes sending troops into another war.

“I don't want to put one single American soldier in Ukraine,” Hudson said. He says that this could escalate conflict quickly, leading to disastrous results.

“The ultimate escalation,” he said, “would be nuclear war — and no one survives that.”

Hudson said he supports hitting Russia with strong sanctions, effectively paralyzing their economy. “We just need to make it so you can't buy anything made in Russia (and) they can't buy anything from the world,” he added.

Once this happens, he said, the hope is that “the Russian people will turn on Putin.” He thinks this will eventually happen and lead to the end of the conflict.

“Will it happen next week, or will it happen in 10 or 15 years? I'm not sure. But I think the tighter we squeeze, we make it impossible for him to afford to keep going,” Hudson said.

While involving military personnel remains off limits, Hudson believes in supplying Ukraine with weapons. Alongside U.S. Rep. Victoria Spartz, R-In, Hudson introduced a bill this past week to waive export criteria so donations from American ammunition manufacturers can reach Ukraine faster.

Hudson had mixed reviews about the U.S. response to the Russia-Ukraine war so far. He criticized President Joe Biden for waiting too long to implement sanctions but praised him for doing so now. He also gave Biden credit for unifying with Europe against Russia, which he admitted may have slowed down the process of implementing sanctions.

Hudson also pushed back against the Biden administration’s decision Wednesday not to send Poland’s Soviet-era warplanes to Ukraine. The deal involved giving Ukraine planes its pilots are familiar with, and then replacing Poland’s planes with American F-16s.

“There's something going on internally at the White House that I don't understand,” he said. “We should certainly have already sent them those (jets).”

However, Hudson agreed there is an important distinction between military aid and involvement. For instance, he is against a no-fly zone over Ukraine. He believes that this would be a mistake because it would mean U.S. pilots would shoot down Russian planes and vice versa, effectively committing U.S. troops to the conflict.

Hudson believes the U.S. should send soldiers to the NATO region “because having them there is a deterrent to Putin doing more.” He supports defending and supporting NATO-member countries but hesitates to go further. “Even Moldova’s tough for us,” if Russian forces go beyond Ukraine, he said.

As a member of the Helsinki Commission, Hudson described the conversation he had with foreign delegates the day after the invasion as “surreal.”

“I didn't believe, until this, that (Vladimir Putin) would ever attack a NATO country,” he told The Pilot. “I actually believe that's possible now. So we have to stop him in Ukraine.”

Still, Hudson cautioned against preemptive worries about escalation. For those anxious about the conflict at home, his best advice is to have faith in the country’s ability to handle the conflict appropriately.

“I believe we'll make the right decisions,” he said. “There is no one seriously calling for sending U.S. troops in to fight Russians. We all agree that that's an escalation we don't want to allow.”

As far as the 2022 election goes, Hudson will face three Republican challenges in the May primary: former U.S. Army soldier Mike Andriani of Fayetteville, Charlotte businessman Francisco Rios and Asheboro businesswoman Jen Bucardo. On the Democratic side, State Sen. Ben Clark of Raeford will challenge for the seat.