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I hope you saw my latest weekly column.

 

ROGER WICKER: Vladimir Putin Threatens War in Europe
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Thirty years ago in Moscow, the red flag of the Soviet Union was lowered for
the last time as the USSR officially dissolved. The collapse of that “evil
empire,” as Ronald Reagan called it, was a seismic event. Millions who had
suffered under communism became free, and hopes grew that Russia itself might
become a free democracy willing to respect its neighbors. Sadly, those hopes
have long vanished under the rule of Vladimir Putin, whose campaign to rebuild
the Russian empire is now pushing Europe to the brink of war. Having seized
parts of Georgia in 2008 and parts of eastern Ukraine in 2014, Putin is now
posturing to invade the Ukrainian heartland, threatening the peace of Europe
and our national interests.

For months, Putin has been laying the groundwork for an invasion. Since
December he has sent upwards of 100,000 heavily armed troops to the Ukrainian
border. He has also moved troops into neighboring Belarus – dangerously close
to the Polish border – where he claims to be planning military exercises. More
recently, Russia launched a cyberattack on the Ukrainian government, and U.S.
intelligence indicates Russia is planning a “false-flag” operation to create
the illusion of Ukrainian hostility, giving Putin a pretext to invade. These
shameless tactics are reminiscent of the way Adolf Hitler and the Nazis took
over large portions of Europe.

Senators Meet with Ukrainian President

To address this crisis, I recently traveled to Ukraine with a bipartisan group
of Senators. We met with Ukraine’s President, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, as well as
the Foreign Minister, Defense Minister, and other high-ranking Ukrainian
officials. Our delegation was united in agreement that the West cannot stand
for continued Russian provocations.  President Zelenskyy expressed gratitude
for our visit and urged the U.S. to put tough sanctions on Russia to deter
further aggression. He also encouraged us to provide more weaponry to the
Ukrainian military, which we and several other countries have already begun to
do. Even as we departed from the airport in Kyiv, I saw a British C-17
offloading missiles for Ukraine’s self-defense.

Putin appears ready to invade at any moment. It is uncertain what he will do,
but his own record suggests he will inflict as much harm as the West allows.
What is certain is that Ukraine will put up a fierce fight. Millions of
Ukrainians remember life under the Iron Curtain and have no desire to be
subjugated again to Moscow. Some 14,000 Ukrainians have given their lives
fighting Russian-backed forces since 2014, and they are prepared to make
additional sacrifices to defend their sovereignty.

U.S. Must Show Strength to Prevent War

How the West handles this crisis is absolutely vital to American interests.
China is watching our every move, looking for signs of weakness that might
greenlight their own planned invasion of Taiwan, an important U.S. economic
partner. A show of American weakness now, particularly after President Biden’s
disastrous exit from Afghanistan, could unleash a host of new challenges to the
free world.

So far the President has not inspired confidence. His efforts to talk Putin
out of his escalations have failed, and recently, in a major gaffe, he
suggested that the West would be divided on how to respond to a “minor
incursion” into Ukraine – giving Putin all the more reason to invade.

The time for diplomacy alone has ended. As our Commander-in-Chief, Mr. Biden
needs to start treating Putin like the international bully he is: a man who has
jailed, poisoned, and killed his political opponents, and who is now
manufacturing a dangerous crisis in order to cement his own power as a
modern-day Stalin. Putin needs to know that starting a war will cost him dearly.

 

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Thank you for your support,

Senator Roger Wicker

 

 

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