WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, today delivered the following opening remarks at this afternoon’s full Committee hearing entitled “Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine: Assessing the U.S. and International Response.” Testifying before the Committee was the Honorable Victoria Nuland, Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, who also testified before the Committee yesterday evening at a closed briefing on the same topic.
“I commend this Administration’s efforts—the result of months of relentless diplomacy—to build a strong international coalition that has stood up and imposed sweeping costs on the Putin regime,” Chairman Menendez said. “To date, we, along with European allies and partners, and others, have levied serious costs that are already having a devastating effect on the Russian economy. The Central Bank of Russia is subject to unprecedented sanctions. The top banks in Russia are sanctioned, along with Putin himself, and company after company is cutting off Russian ties. We have made clear that with this unjustified, unprovoked invasion, Putin has miscalculated. He has chosen to turn the Russian state into a pariah and to have the Russian people suffer as a result.”
Find a copy of Chairman Menendez’s remarks as delivered below.
Let me thank Secretary Nuland for coming before us today to testify on the crisis facing Ukraine, Europe, and the world, and for being with us yesterday in a classified session so that all of the questions that members wanted to ask – some that could not be conducted in this forum – could be answered. We appreciate you being there.
In just 12 days, the world has changed. As we sit here, Ukraine is fighting for its life. A ruthless dictator is shelling civilians, refusing calls for diplomacy, and threatening the stability of a region.
As of this morning, at least 470 Ukrainian civilians have lost their lives because of Putin’s brutality, at least 29 of them were innocent children.
The last 12 days have been an entire lifetime for the people of Ukraine — forced to leave their lives behind, spending days in subways and makeshift bomb shelters, and fleeing from mortars with their children in hand. Sometimes, they don’t make it.
The rest of the world is being called upon to stand with Ukraine and to make this war untenable for the dictator in Moscow.
The United States, and much of the world has rallied with impressive urgency and coordination.
I commend this Administration’s efforts—the result of months of relentless diplomacy—to build a strong international coalition that has stood up and imposed sweeping costs on the Putin regime.
To date, we, along with European allies and partners, and others, have levied serious costs that are already having a devastating effect on the Russian economy. The Central Bank of Russia is subject to unprecedented sanctions. The top banks in Russia are sanctioned, along with Putin himself, and company after company is cutting off Russian ties.
We have made clear that with this unjustified, unprovoked invasion, Putin has miscalculated. He has chosen to turn the Russian state into a pariah and to have the Russian people suffer as a result.
But I am afraid—and I hope I am dead wrong—that this may just be the beginning of the fight for Ukraine’s existence. We are here, we are prepared to support the Ukrainian people. But it may be a long road.
So while the response of the past 12 days is valiant, it cannot be the end.
Until Putin relents, we must keep the pressure on.
That means holding Belarus and the Lukashenko regime to account for their role and acquiescence.
It means continuing to squeeze Putin’s oligarchs as well as the political elites and seizing their assets so they feel and respond to the pain. In some respects, Europe has been somewhat ahead of us on this score. I think we should be doing what Europe has done.
It means ensuring every major bank is cut off from SWIFT.
It means pressuring those countries who have not yet ended economic ties or arms sales to do so.
In means tariffs on non-oil imports and advocating for the private sector to follow the lead of some of our companies to divest and cease operations in Russia.
And of course, it means staying laser-focused on providing Ukraine every weapon, every piece of lethal assistance, and every defense article possible so that it can defend itself.
Many of us are working to do just that as we speak, and to respond urgently to the personal appeals of President Zelenskyy and the Ukrainian Ambassador in Washington. I hope this week will result in a bipartisan demonstration of support for Ukraine through the omnibus bill, as we heed their calls for additional assistance and weapons.
But we must also be thinking about the months ahead, and recognize that the threat of Kremlin aggression is not going away.
I believe we must engage in a revitalized diplomatic effort to counter Russian aggression not only beyond Europe’s borders, but globally.
Today, I am calling on the Administration to do just that. I have sent letters to the State Department’s regional assistant secretaries asking that each detail their diplomatic strategies to counter Russia. This needs to be a global effort and we need match our words with action to fend off Putin’s attempts to tighten his grip around the world and grasp at political legitimacy.
Most immediately, while I have broader concerns about the JCPOA, I am specifically concerned that returning to the JCPOA will benefit Russia economically at a time when the international community is committed to squeezing Moscow. I am also extremely concerned that that the Administration would consider purchasing oil from Venezuela.
The Biden administration’s efforts to unify the entire world against a murderous tyrant in Moscow is commendable but should not be undercut by propping up a dictator under investigation for crimes against humanity in Caracas. The democratic aspirations of the Venezuelan people, much like the resolve and courage of the people of Ukraine, are worth much more than a few thousand barrels of oil.
These are extraordinary times. And yes, we are all looking for extraordinary measures in response. But we cannot lose sight of our core principles, of our basic values.
We must turn Putin back out of Ukraine and out of the regions around the world where his influence has grown.
In closing, the people of Ukraine refuse to back down. Their cause is our cause because they should not have to fight. They should not have to flee their borders or leave their homes. They deserve to live and thrive in freedom.
The fight for Ukraine is a fight for democracy. A fight for freedom. A fight against a murderous dictatorship. We cannot forget that.”
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