The United States is not obligated by any treaties to engage in the war in Ukraine, including sanctions that will ultimately help Vladimir Putin and hurt Americans, Rep. Thomas Massie said Thursday.
The Kentucky Republican, whose libertarian leanings often separate him on issues for which most of Congress votes together, took a strong stance against nearly all intervention in conflicts abroad at a foreign policy conference in Washington, D.C. He said Washington’s “uniparty” is constantly looking for loopholes to take action in foreign conflicts without Congress’s approval.
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“Congress has the authority — the sole authority — to declare war, and this also means to make acts of war,” Massie said. “And everyone is always trying to find a loophole to exploit to say that ‘No, and this treaty obligates us to war, or this agreement here obligates us to mutual defense.'”
He deconstructed several of these “loopholes,” including Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, which obligates members to assist other members militarily if they are attacked.
“Guess what, there are more articles than Article 5 in the NATO Treaty, including Article 11,” Massie said at the American Moment conference. “Article 11 says the provisions of this treaty will be carried out in accordance with the Constitutions of the respective members. So in other words, the NATO Treaty acknowledges that you can’t violate our Constitution and go to war.”
He argued that the Budapest Agreement, a treaty between several Eastern European and Western Asian countries, including Ukraine, and backed by the U.S., is not binding because it was not ratified by Congress. He also pointed out that the 1973 War Powers Resolution does not give treaties the power to supersede Congress’s constitutional powers.
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The heavy sanctions the U.S. has imposed on Russia haven’t been thought through, Massie continued, saying they will eventually backfire on Americans, especially with U.S. farmers being cut off from Russia’s fertilizer exports.
“You empower Putin when you punish the people who are underneath him. We need to win the hearts and minds of the Russian people,” Massie said, adding, “The things that our government is doing are going to hurt the people of Russia at the same time they’re going to hurt people here.”
