House lawmakers push Biden administration to do more to stop Russia’s aggression against Ukraine
Some lawmakers, part of a three-day bipartisan delegation, are recommending cutting Russia off from financial markets if it invades Ukraine. Other lawmakers said that in the meantime, the administration should focus on deterrence, including a clear message that “lots of Russian boys will die the first day” and providing Ukraine with a significant increase in the supply of weapons that the Russians were thinking of invading. all.
Representative Seth Moulton told CNN: “I know that we have an important opportunity in the next few weeks to prevent further Russian aggression from happening, from everything from a limited invasion to how much including a full-blown invasion,” Representative Seth Moulton told CNN. . “It is crucial that we focus on stopping the Russian action rather than responding to it.”
Massachusetts Democrats and other legislators on the House Armed Services Committee met with their American counterparts in Kiev to assess the situation as the Russian military has increased its presence along the border with Ukraine and the President Russian President Vladimir Putin continues a series of calls to world leaders – speaking with French President Emmanuel Macron and Finnish President Sauli Niinistö on Tuesday following a December 7 call with President Joe Biden – to repeat his request for assurances that the North Atlantic Treaty Organization would not expand into Ukraine or deploy weapons there.
The White House says Biden told Putin on a video call that the United States is prepared to roll out strong economic measures if Russia invades – signaling that these new measures will close a bigger punch than the orders. Sanctions enacted in 2014 did not prevent Russia from occupying Crimea. Biden said he told the Russian leader that the consequences of an invasion would be like what Mr. Putin has seen before.
On Tuesday, Moulton told CNN that he sent a memo to the Biden administration urging them to take more proactive steps to deter any Russian aggression.
The memo outlines tactical details about other US weapons to be supplied to Ukraine and how forces will be deployed. Moulton said he is also urging administration officials to speak up more — with Putin and directly with the Russian people — about how costly and bloody a Russian invasion of Ukraine would be.
Moulton was accompanied by Representative Salud Carbajal, a Democrat from California; Representative Mike Waltz, a Republican from Florida; Representative Joe Wilson, a Republican from South Carolina; and Representative Ruben Gallego, a Democrat from Arizona.
The lawmakers’ trip comes as the top US diplomat for Europe has also visited Kiev and used the opportunity to dispute claims that the US will press Ukraine to make concessions to Russia.
‘Pure misinformation’
“The notion that we will push Ukraine to make concessions in discussions and dialogues with Russia is pure misinformation and should be treated as such,” Assistant Secretary of State Karen Donfried said in a video. was recorded in Kiev and posted on Twitter by the US Embassy on Tuesday. .
She said that message had been shared with Ukraine’s leaders and that the “truth” was that the US, Ukraine and its NATO allies were “united” in their pursuit of diplomacy.
“We are committed to making sure that no decision or discussion takes place on Ukraine without Ukraine,” Donfried said.
She said the United States has “listen closely to the requests of our Ukrainian colleagues, who have asked for the United States to participate more actively in diplomatic efforts to restore the peace process.”
Gallego told CNN’s Fredricka Whitfield in an interview from Kiev on Sunday that he believes that if Putin is “given enough room,” the Russian leader “is ready to do something, whether it’s a month, two months or years from now, or one. years from now.”
Gallego said the mission gathered information about the trip that indicated Russia’s intention “to influence and/or invade Ukraine at some point.” If it happens, the consequences will be immediate and severe.
“Disconnect them from the US dollar so they can’t trade anymore,” Gallego said, adding that in order for Russia to “invest or sell, they have to go to the secondary market and if it ends up being the euro, we also have to put pressure on that.”
He added that combined with economic sanctions, Ukraine should be better equipped with weapons, which “would really take a toll on Russian troop movements and, you know, unfortunately.” , that means we have to kill some Russians”, while also referring to Ukrainian troops and special forces, and not US forces. He reiterated that the Russians “understand only pure power, and we have to give the Ukrainian army and special forces the ability to do that.”
House lawmakers led by Democratic Representative Tom Malinowski of New Jersey wrote to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell urging Republicans to act quickly to move the fiscal year bills. financial 2022 forward “in part because doing so is necessary to unlock vital additional support for Ukraine at a time when Russian forces are flooding their borders threatening an invasion.” .”
‘The first day’
Malinowski, Representative Steve Cohen of Tennessee and other Democrats told McConnell in a letter dated December 13 that “the administration is maximizing its ability to provide essential military assets But the administration can start to do more with the increased support designated in fiscal year 22 for Ukraine – support that will enhance Ukraine’s ability in deter Russian aggression, defend NATO’s eastern flank, and send a much-needed message of support to the Ukrainian people.”
Moulton asserted that the Biden administration needs to be more proactive with actions, not just words. “The administration clearly doesn’t want to provoke Putin, but it’s also not interested in provocations,” Moulton said.
Moulton also believes that it is necessary to make America’s intentions public – not only to Putin, but also to the Russian people.
“America’s arms purchases for Ukraine should shift the focus from finding ways to make a long-term conflict more costly to preventing a conflict in the first place,” Moulton said. “We can do that by making the first day extremely expensive, and communicating that. We need to make it clear not only to Putin but to the Russian people that a lot of Russian boys are going to die by this day. the first day.”
CNN’s Sonnet Swire and Natasha Bertrand contributed to this report.
