OKLAHOMA CITY – Wednesday, Sen. Nathan Dahm, R-Broken Arrow, filed a resolution to host peace talks between Russia and Ukraine in Oklahoma.

“Last week we were made aware of an escalation in the war between Russia and Ukraine with the training of Ukrainian troops in Oklahoma,” Dahm said. “While Oklahoma’s leaders should be making sure to put America first by protecting the people of Oklahoma as our first priority, we shouldn’t be helping escalate the war, but should rather be seeking peace.”

Senate Concurrent Resolution 3 would offer the State of Oklahoma as a neutral site for peace talks and negotiations between representatives of Russia and Ukraine.

“There are those who would put the profitability of war as their priority over the human lives being lost,” Dahm said. “They’ll even hide behind the guise of jeopardizing national security to protect what they see as funding sources.”

“The American taxpayers are now on the hook for an extra $100 billion that has been sent overseas,” Dahm said. “That’s a huge incentive for those who are more concerned with existing ties that provide financial benefits than they are with the lives being lost.”

SCR 3 would encourage working with the U.S. Department of State to host the talks in Oklahoma in hopes of reaching a peace settlement.

“This conflict has been estimated to have cost the lives of over 250,000 people on both sides,” Dahm said. “A peace that ends this conflict should be the priority of everyone involved rather than looking for ways to escalate it and extend it indefinitely. Others may choose profitability at the expense of human lives lost, but I will follow the words of Jesus when he said, ‘blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called children of God.’”