Ukrainian soldiers patrol in the Donetsk region on September 3, 2014. (Anatolii Stepanov/Agence France-Presse via Getty Images)
Sens.
Rob Portman (R-Ohio) and Richard J. Durbin (D-Ill.), co-chairs of the Senate
Ukraine Caucus, today led a bipartisan group of 27 senators to call on
President-elect Donald Trump to continue America’s tradition of support for the
people of Ukraine in the face of Russian aggression. In a letter, they told
Trump:
Almost three years after
Russia’s illegal annexation of Crimea and military aggression in eastern
Ukraine, daily ceasefire violations along the line of contact make a mockery of
the Minsk Agreement and demonstrate that this conflict in the heart of Europe
is far from over. Russia has yet to withdraw its heavy weapons and continues
its sabotage and subversion efforts. It has not halted its disinformation war
against Ukraine and the West, nor stopped its economic and political pressure
aimed at undermining the Ukrainian government. According to conservative
estimates from the United Nations, approximately 10,000 people have been
killed, over 20,000 wounded, and more than two million internally displaced
since the conflict began. And, unfortunately, the Organization for Security and
Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) observers still do not have full, unimpeded
access to the Ukrainian-Russian border while Russia continues to supply
weapons, equipment, and personnel to the separatists.
One does wonder if Trump has been
presented with these basic facts, or if, like with Russian hacking, Trump chooses not to believe reality. Dubbing
Russia’s actions “a military land-grab in Ukraine that is unprecedented in
modern European history,” these senators advise:
These actions in Crimea and
other areas of eastern Ukraine dangerously upend well-established diplomatic,
legal, and security norms that the United States and its NATO allies
painstakingly built over decades — a historically bipartisan global security
framework that has greatly served US security and economic interests. We
believe it is in our vital national security interest to uphold these norms and
values, and prevent America’s commitment to its allies and ideals from being
called into question.
In light of Russia’s continued
aggression and repeated refusal to respect Ukraine’s territorial integrity and
sovereign right to choose its own destiny, we also renew our call for the
United States to increase political, economic, and military support for
Ukraine. This includes defensive lethal assistance as part of a broader effort
to help Ukrainians better defend themselves, deter future aggression, and
implement key structural reforms. Similarly, we believe that Russia’s illegal
annexation of Crimea should never be accepted, nor should we lift sanctions
imposed on Russia for its behavior in eastern Ukraine until key provisions of
the Minsk Agreement are met. Accordingly, US leadership on maintaining such
transatlantic sanctions should remain a priority.
The letter is revealing on multiple fronts.
First, with President Obama leaving,
Democrats are now much more willing to engage in vocal criticism of policies
that seem only to have encouraged Russian President Vladimir Putin’s
aggression. Bipartisanship is all to the good here, and signals a level of
seriousness about congressional oversight and funding to the incoming
administration. As Trump flounders around looking for a secretary of state, the
letter provides ammunition, if you will, to Russia hawks who may need to push
back on Russia sycophants such as retired Lt. Gen. Michael T. Flynn, the incoming national security adviser.
Second, while Republicans on the Hill
have refused to push back on the domestic agenda or on Trump’s glaring conflicts of interest, foreign policy (be it on setting off a tariff war or
cozying up to Putin) seems to be a different matter. Credit goes to Republican
lawmakers such as Portman and Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.) who do not seem willing to trim their sails to stay in
Trump’s good graces.
Finally, the language of the letter —
its bluntness and clarity — contrasts with the outgoing administration’s effort
to deflect and reduce ire toward Russia, which often sounded like it was
providing PR help to Russia. The administration, for example, took no
significant action when it was determined that a civilian airliner was shot down by Russian-backed forces with a
surface-to-air missile delivered from Russia. Because both Putin and Trump eagerly misstate or ignore realities that
do not fit their agenda, clarity from Congress is all the more important. If
Trump wants to defend a “military land-grab in Ukraine,” let him; but let’s not
let him get away with ignoring or excusing Russia’s violation of a neighbor’s
sovereignty.
As we have said, autocratic leaders must
obscure the truth and make facts fungible so as to escape scrutiny for their
actions. If Congress can prevent Putin and his admirer Trump from such
obfuscation, it would provide a great service to Western democracies.
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