McConnell suggests ‘toughest possible sanctions’ on Russia after Ukraine invasion
Senator Mitch McConnell said he was not expecting to deliver a foreign policy address to a roomful of Central Kentucky business and public policy leaders.
But with Russian troops on Tuesday launching what White House officials are calling an invasion into Ukraine, the Republican Senate Minority Leader focused much of his remarks at a Commerce Lexington lunchtime event on what he thinks the U.S. response should be.
“Toughest possible sanctions” on Russia and an announcement that the Nord Stream 2 pipeline will never be built were McConnell’s two primary recommendations.
President Joe Biden is expected to announce “harsh” sanctions, but McConnell said they need to be the “toughest possible” because he believes powerful nations like Russia and China interpreted America’s withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan as “weak.”
“I think this is the moment to indicate American strength. Both (Russian President) Vladimir Putin and President Xi of China took the wrong message out of our precipitous withdrawal from Afghanistan. It looked not only chaotic, but it looked weak,” McConnell said. “And so they are pushing the limits everywhere in reaction to the perception of American weakness and loss of resolve.”
Nord Stream 2 is an $11 billion natural gas pipeline connecting Russia to Germany, a major consumer of Russia’s exports. After Putin ordered troops to separatist regions of Ukraine, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced that his country would halt certification of the already completed pipeline.
McConnell said that the pipeline should not only be halted – it should never be used, he said.
“Putin needs to learn out of this incident that he can’t start grabbing pieces of other countries in order to rebuild what he would like to rebuild: something similar to the old Soviet Union,” McConnell said.
With the U.S. response yet unannounced on Tuesday afternoon, McConnell said he was waiting until Biden announces his intentions to evaluate the president’s response.
The senator called the likelihood of U.S. military involvement in Ukraine “zero,” citing the fact that it’s not a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). McConnell commended Biden for “beefing up” American troop presence in some Eastern European countries at Russia’s border.
McConnell also did not mince words in calling Putin’s allocation of troops into regions of Ukraine an “invasion.”
“This is an invasion. And if it’s an invasion, it should warrant the toughest possible sanctions, which in my view mean maximum sanctions now – not at some future date – plus, an announcement that Nord Stream two is never going to be opened.”
This story was originally published February 22, 2022 at 2:02 PM.
