Friends -

Earlier today, in response to President Vladimir Putin’s invasion into Ukrainian territory, President Biden announced a first wave of U.S. economic sanctions against Russia. With nearly 190,000 Russian troops now encircling Ukraine, the stage has been set for a massive military action — making this the biggest security crisis Europe and the NATO alliance have faced since the end of the Cold War.

For weeks now the White House and our European allies have sought to prevent this conflict by engaging in intense direct diplomacy with Putin. But diplomacy has not succeeded to date. Yesterday Putin made it clear to the world that he is taking the first step in what would become a very bloody, costly, and extended conflict.

Over this past weekend I attended the Munich Security Conference to discuss the ongoing crisis. It was clear to me that our NATO allies and other partners are firmly united behind the mission of opposing Putin’s aggression and imposing punishing economic sanctions to raise the cost to Putin and his regime of his military action against the people of Ukraine. Together with our European allies, we must also provide the Ukrainian resistance with the defensive weapons they need to fight Russian occupation. And we must reinforce NATO frontline states.

The borders of Europe were transformed through use of force over 70 years ago and we cannot go back to that time. Putin is directly challenging the post-Cold War security architecture of Europe — and Ukraine is not the only country against which he has grievances.

By working closely and decisively with our allies and others in the international community, we must ensure that Putin’s action is remembered as an epic miscalculation — and that he will rue the day he unleashed this unprovoked violence in the heart of Europe. To do any less would embolden others that may seek to use force to overthrow democratically elected governments and change their borders in violation of international law.

Thank you for reading.

Onwards,

Chris




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