A Call to Support Ukraine
On September 18th I had the honor of attending a historic address to a joint meeting of the House of Representatives and the Senate by President Petro Poroshenko of Ukraine. It was a remarkable speech in which President Poroshenko discussed our shared values, the challenges facing his country, and the need for more American support for the democratically-elected government of Ukraine against Russian-backed separatists.
The opportunity for a foreign leader to address both chambers of Congress is a rare gesture of unity and solidarity between our two countries. Unfortunately, our support of Ukraine has also been largely symbolic. President Poroshenko’s speech was a call to action and now is the time to do more to support Ukraine.
In February of this year, Russian and Russian-backed forces invaded the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea, and set up an illegal referendum for the region to succeed from Ukraine. Because the region was occupied by a foreign force, this referendum has no legitimacy. Shortly after the referendum passed, Russia “annexed” the territory in blatant violation of accepted international law and specifically in violation of a treaty signed by the United States, Britain, Russia, and Ukraine guaranteeing their sovereign territory.
Since then, the world has watched as Russia continues to arm and support separatists fighting the Ukrainian government. The separatists likely used Russian military equipment to shoot down Malaysian Airlines Flight 17 killing nearly 300 innocent people, including an American citizen. There still has been no one held accountable for this unprecedented and horrific act.
The United States and European nations have placed sanctions on Russia, but it is debatable what effect if any these efforts have had. Out of fear of upsetting Russia we have limited our assistance to Ukraine to non-lethal aid. During his speech, President Poroshenko expressed his gratitude for what we have done so far but added, “one cannot win a war with blankets!”
President Poroshenko then urged the United States to give the Ukrainian democracy the resources and tools it needs to stand against a much more powerful aggressor. He did not ask for direct American military involvement, and repeatedly stressed his desire for a peaceful solution to this conflict. I agree and believe we must do more while we have the opportunity to help this nation defend their sovereign territory. We must also show our friends in the region we will not allow this Russian aggression and expansion to continue.
The United States has historically been the greatest source of good, and the greatest champion for democracy in the world. As we have seen too often in the last year, when America backs down our enemies are emboldened and seize the opportunity in their own interests. We must not forget the challenges facing Ukraine, and we must support democracy and the rule of law over invasion and oppression. We need to reassert our leadership in the world, not to produce confrontation – but to ensure peace.