Cheney of Wyoming said that there is more to be done. We should be sanctioning Putin and not only [Foreign Minister Sergey] Lavrov. This behavior, this aggression against Ukraine, is something that the world cannot tolerate. The sanctions should be extended. We’ve made great progress, as I said.
Cheney stated that the U.S. and its allies have not reached the limit on the consequences it can impose upon Russia but acknowledged that there has been an “impressive amount of progress.”
Wyoming Republican calls on Biden to take more action regarding Russia’s Central Bank and eliminate any exceptions that would prevent Russian banks from being connected to the SWIFT financial messaging network. He also called for Russia’s energy sector to be targeted.
Cheney stated that the United States should be viewing itself as an arsenal for energy, just like in World War II. “We should be an arsenal for energy. We should be able to unleash our energy resources, our energy production. We must stop Russian oil being imported to the United States.
In response to Putin’s actions against Ukraine, the United States and European partners have imposed a number of sanctions on Russia. These sanctions were accompanied by financial penalties that were increased over the last two days. The White House issued sanctions against Putin, Lavrov, and members of Russia’s national security team on Friday. The U.S., European Union, and the United Kingdom placed restrictions against Russia’s central banks and agreed that “selected” Russian banks would be removed from SWIFT. This disconnects them form the international financial system. These sanctions are in addition to other economic actions against Russian financial institutions and oligarchs, including the state-controlled VTB or Sberbank.
The U.S. also pledged over $1 billion in security, humanitarian aid and assistance to Ukraine. President Biden authorized an additional $350,000,000 in military equipment on Friday.
Cheney stated that there are other steps the Biden administration could take, such as rushing Stinger missiles and Javelin antitank missiles to the country. The congresswoman stated that lawmakers must approve a supplemental aid package, which she indicated will be presented to the House this week.
She stated that there are many things that we should be doing to make it clear that the United States supports Ukraine. If you take into account Vladimir Putin’s threats this morning regarding his nuclear weapons, it’s something we should consider seriously, but also make sure we aren’t intimidated.
Cheney and other Republicans called on the U.S. not to withdraw support for Ukraine. However, Cheney and others have opposed the idea of the GOP supporting action in Europe. This division within the GOP was highlighted by the response of former President Donald Trump to Putin’s aggression.
Cheney called the embrace by the GOP of isolationism “morally wrong” and “dangerous.”
She stated that America cannot protect and maintain its own freedom and security if it thinks it will withdraw from the rest of the world and not lead. We are witnessing today the violence of Vladimir Putin trying to invade a democratic sovereign country. Anyone who believes that U.S. security and freedom can be maintained if the U.S. takes a step back, and doesn’t lead, should simply look at the events in Ukraine. It is obvious that people like the Russians and the Chinese who fill the gap when the U.S. leaves are also Iranians.
She continued, “The U.S. stands for freedom.” America was founded on the fundamental principles of freedom. It’s not right for people to abandon these or suggest that they have no view on the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
Cheney was one of a group 10 House Republicans that voted to impeach Trump. She is now vice chair of the House panel examining the attack. However, in December 2019, she voted against impeaching Trump for pressing Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelesky to investigate Mr. Biden in return for military aid.
Cheney stated that she does not regret voting against Trump’s impeachment for Ukraine. However, the lessons learned from Trump’s first trial informed the work of January 6.
She stated that “any impeachment vote must be based very clearly upon the evidence.”
