From Sen. Mark Warner’s office:
STATEMENT OF SENATE INTEL CHAIR MARK R. WARNER
~ On responding to Russian aggression ~
WASHINGTON – U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-VA), Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, issued the following statement today after Russian President Vladimir Putin decided to formally recognize the independence of Moscow-backed breakaway regions in eastern Ukraine and ordered troops into those areas:
“I just returned to Washington after several days of meetings with our partners and allies in Munich and in London. My takeaway from those meetings is this: the West has never been as resolute or as unified in standing up to Putin’s brazen, reckless and illegal course of action. The United States and our partners stand with the cause of democracy and with the people of Ukraine at this perilous moment.
“Along with my colleagues in Congress, I support President Biden’s measures to impose significant costs on Russia and its autocratic government in response to its unjustified and unacceptable aggression. Those announced today by the President, taken in coordination with our allies, are a good first step, and we must be prepared to impose additional costs on Putin if he carries through on his threats to further invade Ukraine.
“I will also support measures to bolster the readiness and deterrence of the NATO alliance. While we do not want escalation between nuclear powers, there must be no mistake regarding NATO’s readiness to protect its members and deter Russia’s aggression. Putin’s misguided and dangerous actions will only act to further unify this decades-strong alliance of nations.”
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KAINE STATEMENT ON SANCTIONS AGAINST RUSSIA
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senator Tim Kaine, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) and Foreign Relations Committee (SFRC), released the following statement supporting President Biden’s announcement of new sanctions against Russia after President Putin ordered troops to Russian-backed breakaway regions in Eastern Ukraine and violated Ukraine’s sovereignty by formally recognizing those regions as independent:
“I commend President Biden for taking action to punish Putin’s blatant violation of international law and affront to Ukraine’s sovereignty. This is a crisis of Putin’s own making, and he must reverse course immediately by withdrawing troops back to Russian territory and refraining from further aggression.
“But if Russia continues to take steps to violate Ukraine’s sovereignty, the U.S. must work in lock-step with our international partners to impose additional crippling sanctions. We will not stand for Russian aggression.”
In January, Senator Kaine helped introduce the Defending Ukraine Sovereignty Act of 2022, critical legislation to impose devastating sanctions on the Russian banking sector and senior military and government officials if President Putin escalates hostile action in or against Ukraine.
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