Texas representative on Europe’s role in the war in Ukraine

(CBS, KYMA/KECY) - Representative Dan Crenshaw (R-TX) spoke with Margaret Brennan on Face the Nation Sunday about Europe's role in assisting Ukraine.

Crenshaw, according to Brennan, met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, " along with a bipartisan group of lawmakers," where he asked not just for "continued military support," but "security assurances in the event of a peace deal."

This prompted Brennan to ask Crenshaw what he can tell Zelenskyy about what to expect from America, and Crenshaw said:

"I just came from a lunch where General Kellogg spoke as a Special Envoy leading this effort to establish peace. And he's very clear that what the kind of peace we're talking about is a lasting peace, which, of course, involves security assurances. And part of that process is figuring out exactly what that means. Even the Ukrainians are talking about what that means. There's a variety of options, per se. I think the Europeans have to play a huge role in that. One of the things that gets talked about a lot is, what are European forces actually acting as a peacekeeping force? I'm here to constantly remind the Europeans, and I made this clear in various meetings here today, that, you know, if you want a seat at the table, because this is- this was a contentious issue that came up. You know, the Ukrainians clearly have a seat at the table, and the United States will be the intermediary as we try to establish a peace deal. But the Europeans need to demand a seat at the table by being uncomfortably aggressive, which is something they haven't done. They often talk...about how they have matched U.S."

"My message to European leaders...is if we want to win, if we want a better outcome for Ukraine, at the end of these peace talks, you need to be uncomfortably aggressive. You need to not just bolster your own defense spending, I mean because that's a long-term issue. That's a long term investment. You need to be talking about where you're going to be putting actual troops on the ground. Stop following our lead and actually take the lead. Let us be actually holding you back. That would be an ideal situation and vastly change the power dynamic when dealing with Putin," Crenshaw added.

Brennan followed up by asking Crenshaw if he's saying he thinks "there should be something else, or some other entity providing security assurances for Ukraine," since there's already a military security alliance in NATO, and Crenshaw responded saying:

"Europeans send aid, right? They send weapons. They do the same things we do, they match it barely. My argument to them is you shouldn't be matching it. You should be doubling it. You should be tripling it. It's your continent. Zelenskyy gave a speech today. He talked about a European army, right? So there's a lot of talk about this. Of course, there's NATO. That's a security...that's a defensive alliance. That's not an army. That's- we're talking about different things here. The Europeans need to come together, in my opinion, and have just a much stronger message towards Putin, instead of finger wagging at us about what we're willing to give and not give in a peace deal. Again, I tell them, look, if you want a seat at the table, earn it. The Ukrainians have earned it. The Ukrainians have impressed everybody for the last three years. They've fought valiantly and courageously. They've earned my respect. They earned that seat at the table. We need to listen to their...to what they want. We listen to Zelenskyy. And I want to listen to other European leaders as well, but I want them to be uncomfortably aggressive, because that gives us more leverage in order to help Ukraine come out with a better outcome."

To watch more of Brennan's interview with Crenshaw, click here.