We even have a press release on Ukraine from Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Senate minority chief. It’s far more respectful of Biden than the remarks by Lindsey Graham, reported under.
Attention-grabbing (ish) sidenote: Joe Biden nonetheless calls McConnell a pal, regardless of the Republican’s ruthless method to partisan politics which has included such highlights as committing to creating Barack Obama (Biden’s outdated boss, lest we neglect) a “one-term president” and blocking Obama’s decide, Merrick Garland, from even a listening to for a supreme courtroom seat.
Biden doesn’t nonetheless name Graham a pal, due to Graham’s loyal help for Donald Trump by means of thick and skinny.
Anyway, in his assertion on Ukraine, McConnell condemns Vladimir Putin and says “all of the free nations of the world can be affected if [his] aggression is allowed to face unchallenged”.
“The world is watching,” McConnell says. “Our allies, our adversaries, and impartial nations will all decide the west by our response – and plan their futures accordingly.”
Putin, McConnell says, “have to be made to pay a far heavier value than he paid for his earlier invasions of Georgia and Ukraine. This could start, however not finish, with devastating sanctions in opposition to the Kremlin and its enablers. The president ought to waste no time in utilizing his in depth present authorities to impose these prices.”
McConnell additionally needs Nato and EU actions. He welcomes Germany suspending the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, which he says “have to be became everlasting cancellation”.
McConnell praises Ukraine for standing as much as Russia, and concludes: “The US and our allies internationally should absolutely acknowledge the rising threats posed by a long time of Chinese language and Russian navy modernisation. We have to rebuild our atrophied potential to discourage and defend in opposition to aggression by these adversaries. Which means we should make investments extra robustly in our personal navy capabilities to maintain tempo. Our budgets must replicate actuality.
“America and its companions are strongest after we act collectively, however the collective response to those threats have to be led by Washington, by President Biden and his administration.”
Extra on Biden and McConnell: