Statement of Senate Intel Chair Mark Warner on Russia’s attack on Ukraine 

With Russian military forces in two ethnic Russian separatist sections of eastern Ukraine following Vladimir Putin’s unilateral declaration of those provinces as “independent states” the Biden Administration has released U.S. intelligence appraisals of the threat of an imminent Russian invasion of the rest of the Ukrainian nation. It is a nation with a long and rich independent history despite assertions of the Russian president to the contrary.

Against this backdrop of escalating tension between Russia and the post-World War II Western Alliance and NATO, the office of Senator Mark Warner, D-Va., chairman of the U.S. Senate “Intel Committee” released the following statement of the senator at 10:36 p.m. Wednesday evening:

WASHINGTON – U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-VA), Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, issued the following statement tonight:

“For more than 70 years, we have avoided large-scale war in Europe. With his illegal invasion of Ukraine, Vladimir Putin has tragically brought decades of general peace to an end. Now the U.S. and our NATO allies must stand united and resolute against Putin’s efforts to renew the Russian empire at the expense of the Ukrainian people.

“President Biden has already imposed an initial tranche of sanctions, and it is now time for us to up the pain level for the Russian government. We should also continue to bolster the defenses of our NATO allies while exploring how we can further help the Ukrainian people in their time of need.

“While there is still an opportunity for Russia to reverse course, we can no longer hold out hope that this standoff will be resolved peacefully. Therefore, we must all, on both sides of the aisle and both sides of the Atlantic, work together to demonstrate to Putin that this aggression will not be allowed to go unpunished.

“What is happening in Ukraine is a tragedy not only for Ukraine, but for the Russian people as well. They will pay a steep cost for Putin’s reckless ambition, in blood and in economic harm.”