On the recordApril 28, 2025
Mr. Speaker, we want peace. Ukraine desperately wants peace but not as a result of what would be in effect a Putin-Russia victory. We want peace and not appeasement that would reward a brutal Russian invasion with land gains that officially recognize Crimea as Russia, with land gains that give de facto recognition to four other large areas. In time, then Putin would recognize his ability to come back and finish the job. We want peace but not without security assurances from the U.S. and its allies. We want peace but not without accountability. I stood on the grounds of Bucha and the mass grave. I have seen the flattened maternity hospital. I have learned of the tens of thousands of kids kidnapped by the Russians. These Ukrainian children were taken into Russia, never to see their families again. {time} 2045 We want peace but not with what would, in effect, be a message to autocrats and tyrants across the world that they have a green light to take lands not their own. Recognizing that Putin's ambitions go well beyond Ukraine to Moldova, Georgia, the Baltics, and Poland, coupled with this administration's proclamation that, in effect, NATO is on its own. I paraphrase the concerns raised by Secretary Austin and General Milley that if we don't stop Putin's aggression now, then we will pay later with more blood and dollars. We must recognize at the same time that we simply can't trust Putin to keep a deal, which is why the security guarantees are so important.…





