Southern California Congress members are calling for severe sanctions on Russia in the wake of news that President Vladimir Putin has sent troops into two separatist regions in eastern Ukraine, heightening fears that a full invasion of Ukraine is imminent.
“U.S. restraint has not deterred Putin,” Rep. Young Kim, R-La Habra, tweeted Tuesday. “We need crippling sanctions now!”
Local reactions came following a speech Tuesday where President Joe Biden announced what he called a “first tranche” of US sanctions against Russia that essentially cut off the country from Western financing. Europe and the United Kingdom also announced sanctions, saying they froze the assets of some Russian oligarchs and called off certification of a key natural gas pipeline from Russia to Germany and other countries.
Rep. Mike Levin, D-San Juan Capistrano, said in a statement that he expects the Biden Administration and U.S. allies to “continue to implement increasingly severe sanctions on Vladimir Putin, his cronies, and the Russian government, as promised,” calling Russia’s invasion in eastern Ukraine territories “a blatant assault on international law.”
Rep. Ken Calvert, R-Corona, said no matter what reasons Putin gives for his actions, “the truth is Putin ultimately seeks to restore the USSR in all the former Soviet nations.”
Levin and Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Burbank, said they’re still hoping for a diplomatic solution to the crisis.
“Any diplomatic effort is worthwhile if it can prevent war,” Schiff tweeted. “I applaud President Biden for all his efforts to achieve peace. Standing strong means never closing the door to diplomacy.”
Meanwhile, Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Vista, mocked those efforts on Twitter.
“Is this a bad time to remind everybody the Biden White House triumphantly announced ‘Diplomacy is back’?” Issa tweeted. He also characterized Biden’s reactions on the situation so far as weak, tweeting, “On day one, Biden imposed tougher sanctions against American energy than on any foreign adversary.”
Rep. Mike Garcia, R-Santa Clarita, said during a Feb. 17 appearance on the Sara Carter Show podcast that the United States hasn’t done a good enough job over the past 30 years of bringing Ukraine “into the fold.” But he said, “The green light was Biden,” citing moves such as the Biden administration striking an agreement with Germany last year to allow the controversial Russian natural-gas pipeline Nord Stream 2 to go forward. (Certification of that pipeline was called off on Tuesday.)
“Putin knows Biden has no backbone,” Garcia said.
Still, while Calvert voiced support for “lethal and nonlethal aid” to Ukraine, Garcia spoke against sending in U.S. troops.
“At this point we’ve got to try to do everything we can from a non-kinetic perspective, without employing troops into Ukraine, to deter Russia,” Garcia said.
Whether we “enter a very large war or not” will depend in large part on whether Putin goes on to invade regions currently controlled by Ukrainian forces, Rep. Ted Lieu, D-Torrance, said in video shared to social media.
While Garcia said we can’t let Ukraine distract us from the “real threat” coming from China, Lieu said Putin’s actions now show “Mitt Romney was right when he called Russia the number one geopolitical foe.”
Some local Democrats are pointing fingers at former President Donald Trump, saying his actions set the stage for what’s now unfolding.
“Any violence in Ukraine will be the fault of Russia and Russia alone. Putin chose a war,” Rep. Judy Chu, D-Pasadena, tweeted Tuesday. “But it’s also important to understand how he was emboldened by Trump’s actions.” Chu then shared links outlining how the GOP in 2016 took support for Ukraine out of its platform, how Trump in 2019 “made aid to Ukraine contingent on election interference,” and how Trump tried to pull the United States out of NATO.
Some GOP figures who’d been closely aligned with Trump, such as Fox News host Tucker Carlson, have been downplaying Russia’s invasion or staying quiet on the topic. And Trump himself told a conservative podcaster Tuesday that he viewed Putin’s declaration that parts of Ukraine are independent and allied with Russia as “genius.”
But Kim on Tuesday stepped forward to say that Russia is “invading a sovereign nation” and that she supports the U.S. and its allies in “swiftly implementing severe sanctions on Putin and Russia to bolster support to Ukraine.”
Schiff said while that while Putin’s actions over the past few days “indicate our worst fears about Russia’s intentions toward Ukraine may be coming true,” he said, “There is still time for Putin to choose diplomacy. He must.
“But make no mistake – we will stand united with our NATO allies in response to whatever comes next.”