The chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee said Washington needs to ship more military aid such as body armor to Ukrainian forces facing off with Russians pressing against their borders.
Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.) met with reporters in Kiev on Friday after a two-day trip meeting with political and military leaders “to understand the security situation facing this country.”
“I also visited the Maidan, where the Ukrainian people put their lives on the line to fight for a unified, democratic Ukraine. They are going to need to carry on in the same spirit to pull off a free, fair election – as they want to do – in the face of unrelenting pressure and threats from the Russian Armed Forces and the people they have brought in to support them,” Levin said.
“Our support for the Ukrainian people must also be resolute. There are a number of steps that we can take to support them in their struggle.”
Levin said the first step is expediting “the aid that we have already promised them, to make sure that it arrives promptly.”
“Second, we should provide additional support, including body armor and fuel, that the Ukrainians need to protect themselves,” the senator continued. “Third, we should make more robust use of the powers established in Executive Order 13661, which authorizes sanctions against the Russian financial, energy, metals, mining, engineering, and defense sectors, to ensure that Putin pays a price for his illegal actions against Ukraine, and his efforts to undermine democratic processes in this country.”
“Finally, we should use this authority to sanction Russian banks in addition to the one that we have already sanctioned, and to take on Russia’s manipulation of energy prices and supplies, which it uses to coerce not only Ukraine, but also many of its neighbors. To be effective, these actions must be taken in close coordination with our friends and allies in Europe – many of whom are directly affected by Russia’s abuses and threatened by its actions.”
Levin mentioned his visited earlier this week to Afghanistan, “where the Afghan people stood up to the threats and violence of the Taliban to vote in record numbers for a peaceful transfer of power.”
“I am confident that the people of Ukraine, buoyed by the spirit of the Maidan, will show similar resolve in their struggle for a united, democratic country,” he said.
Presidential elections are set for May 25.
Secretary of State John Kerry admitted yesterday that Russia has violated the recently inked Geneva agreement to defuse tensions in the region.
“The simple reality is you can’t resolve a crisis when only one side is willing to do what is necessary to avoid a confrontation. Every day since we left Geneva – every day, even up to today, when Russia sent armored battalions right up the Luhansk Oblast border – the world has witnessed a tale of two countries, two countries with vastly different understandings of what it means to uphold an international agreement,” Kerry said.
“One week later, it is clear that only one side, one country, is keeping its word. And for anyone who wants to create gray areas out of black, or find in the fine print crude ways to justify crude actions, let’s get real – the Geneva agreement is not open to interpretation. It is not vague. It is not subjective. It is not optional. What we agreed to in Geneva is as simple as it is specific.”
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