WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Representative Peter Meijer (R-MI), a member of the House Committees on Foreign Affairs and Homeland Security, today introduced a resolution condemning 398 Russian Duma members and 154 Federation Council members and calling for sanctions against them.
Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Rep. Meijer released the following statement:
“America’s strength is only valuable if the world’s bad actors believe we will use that strength to defend ourselves and our allies. I am calling on the Biden Administration to end the half measures and unleash crippling sanctions that will crush Vladimir Putin and his corrupt cronies.
“A weak America emboldens dictators like Putin to threaten our allies. We cannot afford to be tepid or weak-willed in our approach, and we must take action to economically isolate and devastate the Russian regime. If we fail to do so, we will see the chaos Putin is unleashing in Ukraine spread throughout Europe, and it will also embolden tyrants in China, North Korea, and Iran.”
Additionally, after President Biden’s address yesterday, Rep. Meijer called for full economic sanctions against Russia, including sanctions against Putin himself and kicking Russia out of the SWIFT banking system.
Rep. Meijer’s resolution would:
- Condemns the members of the Russian Duma and Federation Council who voted to recognize the independence of Donetsk and Luhansk in flagrant violation of Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, international law, and Russia’s commitments under the 2015 Minsk agreement;
- Commends the European Union’s decision to sanction 351 Russian legislators who appealed to President Putin to recognize the independence of Donetsk and Luhansk;
- Calls on the Biden Administration to sanction the 398 members of the Duma and 154 members of the Federation Council who took such a vote; and
- Expresses firm and decisive support for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity against Putin’s military aggression.
- Since Russia’s illegal invasion and subsequent annexation of the Crimean Peninsula from Ukraine in 2014, Russia has engineered the rise of new separatist movements in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions of eastern Ukraine, collectively known as the Donbas.
- The 2014 and 2015 Minsk agreements, designed to end the war in the Donbas region, established a ceasefire and provided a ‘‘special status’’ for the Donbas region that would enable it to enjoy limited autonomy while under continued control of the government of Ukraine.
- On February 15, 2022, Russia’s State Duma, the lower House of Parliament, voted 351 to 16 to adopt a resolution calling for the diplomatic recognition of the so-called Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) and the Luhansk People’s Republic (LPR), self-proclaimed breakaway regions in the Donbas.
- On February 21, 2022, President Putin signed decrees recognizing the DPR and LPR and ordered the Russian military to conduct ‘‘peacekeeping operations’’ in the territories, marking a dangerous military escalation and a blatant violation of the Minsk agreements and international law.
- On February 22, 2022, the Duma voted 398 to 0 and the Federation Council, Russia’s upper House of Parliament, voted 154 to 0 to recognize the DPR and LPR and grant President Putin consent to use military force in the Donbas region.
- On the same day, Russian tanks and troops moved into Donetsk and Luhansk in what the White House described as an ‘‘invasion.’’
Original source can be found here.
