As Russia attacked Ukraine, Americans were left wondering what Russian President Vladimir Putin might do next and how it could affect the United States.
U.S. Rep. Peter Meijer said the most important move for the U.S. should be to isolate Russia economically.
“This is an all-out attack on Ukraine by Russia,” Meijer, R-Grand Rapids, told News 8 Wednesday morning in a video call. “It has already resulted in at least dozens of confirmed casualties; that number could be over 100 or into the hundreds. This is a full-on assault.”
His concern, as the eyes of the world are watching Eastern Europe, is that the attacks will not be limited to Ukraine.
“This is not a limited incursion, this is not a couple of limited airstrikes or artillery attacks here and there, this is a complex and very widespread invasion,” he said, citing reports that Russia has attacked Ukraine from three sides in what he called a “pincer attack.”
He said that Putin has proven in recorded interviews that, in addition to Ukraine, he does not consider Poland or three of the Baltic states (Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia) as independent countries. All four countries are NATO members, as is the United States.
Meijer said that while right now the violence is limited to Ukraine, there is concern that this could rapidly spiral into a larger regional conflict. He said if Russia were to involve these NATO allies, it would result in the implication of Article Five of the self-defense provision of the NATO charter. That, Meijer said, “would compel and obligate all of our forces in NATO, including the United States, to come to their aid.”
The congressman said some consequences felt directly in the U.S. will be obvious — rising oil prices from limitations on energy exports from Russia and dropping stocks.
Even with economic consequences stateside, Meijer — who sits on the House foreign affairs and homeland security committees and who is also a combat veteran — said he is opposed to U.S. military forces being actively involved in the conflict. He supports using other powers to deter and degrade Russia.
“Just because I don’t believe that our military forces should be involved does not mean I don’t believe and am strongly advocating the full range of nonmilitary options that we have be either deployed or brought to the brink of being deployed,” he said.
While Biden has already announced sanctions on Russia, Meijer said the U.S. needs to ensure they are damaging.
“That’s why we need these sanctions to be unyielding, unrelenting. They need to economically isolate Russia and economically devastate Vladimir Putin and the oligarchs who have enriched him and have been enriched by him,” Meijer said.
Meijer said he thinks the U.S. needs to use the “full scope” of economic options, including removing Russia from converting rubles to dollars, cutting off energy exports, and sanctioning members of the Duma and the Federation Council — the Russian legislature that approved the Ukraine incursion.
“Just because we are not deploying our military … does not mean we shouldn’t use every other option that’s on the table to get Putin to relent,” he said.
Original source can be found here.
