Senators on both sides of the aisle called Tuesday for swift action on sanctions to deter Russian aggression in Ukraine.
Concerns over an armed conflict grew after Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday recognized two occupied regions in Ukraine, the Luhansk People’s Republic and Donetsk People’s Republic, as independent from Ukraine, and he ordered what Russia called “peacekeeping” troops into those regions. Russian troops have been in the area since 2014, but the increase appears to mark the first steps of an invasion.
President Joe Biden addressed the nation on the crisis as congressional pressure to increase sanctions grew amid new measures by NATO allies to amp up the economic pain on Russia.
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Before departing for the Presidents Day recess last week, the Senate failed to reach an agreement on a sanctions agenda to deter a Russian invasion of Ukraine, but senators issued statements of support for the former Soviet country as Putin’s threats loomed.
In a Tuesday statement, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said that in both his rhetoric and actions, Putin “has turned his back on the Minsk process and diplomacy in favor of escalation and invasion of a sovereign country.”
The Kentucky Republican said there is every indication Putin’s actions are a “prelude to even further aggression and an even larger invasion.”
“If that occurs, many Ukrainians could die,” he said. “The humanitarian consequences could be catastrophic. And the threat will not stop with Ukraine. All the free nations of the world will be affected if Putin’s aggression is allowed to stand unchallenged.”
McConnell added, “The world is watching.”
“Our allies, our adversaries, and neutral countries will all judge the West by our response — and plan their futures accordingly,” he said. “As he escalates his war against Ukraine, Putin must be made to pay a far heavier price than he paid for his previous invasions of Georgia and Ukraine. This should begin, but not end, with devastating sanctions against the Kremlin and its enablers.”
McConnell called on Biden to “waste no time in using his extensive existing authorities to impose these costs” and called on NATO and EU allies to “likewise take action to impose significant costs on Putin.”
He praised Germany’s suspension of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline as “a welcome but overdue announcement [that] must be turned into permanent cancellation” and said the United States should aid “the brave Ukrainians fighting to protect their sovereignty.”
“The United States and all friends of Ukraine must ensure a pipeline of support, including arms, flows to Ukrainians resisting Russian aggression,” McConnell said, adding, “the United States and our allies across the world must fully acknowledge the growing threats posed by decades of Chinese and Russian military modernization.”
Calling for rebuilding “atrophied” defense budgets, McConnell said, “America and its partners are strongest when we act together, but the collective response to these threats must be led by Washington, by President Biden and his Administration.”
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said during a press conference in New York on Tuesday that Biden “has the power to issue strong, swift, and effective sanctions, and he should do so in coordination with our allies to counter the Russian invasion.”
In remarks at a press conference in South Carolina on Tuesday, Sen. Lindsey Graham called for a “sanctions regime from hell” against Putin and Russian oligarchs and said Biden should take more firm action.
“Right now, Mr. President, you’re playing footsie with Putin and you’re losing,” Graham said.
Graham said he has had discussions with his Democratic colleagues about “an emergency supplemental to be created next week that would create a task force of the Department of Justice, Department of State, Treasury, and maybe DOD to go after the oligarchs who enrich themselves from Putin’s misadventures.”
“It’s now time for that crowd to lose their yachts, lose their luxury apartments, and to pay a price for being part of a thuggish group — a nation-state that really is a mafia-state,” he said.
Graham also took aim at a faction of his own party that has opposed intervening on Ukraine’s behalf, criticizing them for disregarding a post-World War II order and economic concerns presented by oil and gas disruptions.
“The same people who are doubting whether we should do anything in Ukraine are the biggest hawks when it comes to riots in the streets,” Graham said, arguing that if one feels that rioting and looting means a city has lost its way, “the same is true in the world.”
“When you allow one country to take the land of another by force of arms, nobody’s safe anywhere,” he said.
Sen. Bob Menendez, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, told CNN Tuesday that “I think we can stop equivocating as to whether we have an invasion or not.”
“I think the West, the United States, has to make it very clear to Putin that the consequences begin now,” the New Jersey Democrat said.
Meanwhile, House Republican leadership, including Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, issued a joint statement calling Putin’s actions “reprehensible.”
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The statement said Biden “chose appeasement” and hasn’t taken firm enough action on Putin’s move.
“The U.S. and our allies must now make the Putin regime pay for this aggression,” the Republicans said. “Congress should compel President Biden to take the tough steps his administration has opposed thus far, we must permanently end Nord Stream 2, implement secondary sanctions on Russian financial institutions, and impose crippling penalties on the industries which the Russian military relies on to make war.”
