Rob Portman: “I am here today to talk about the escalating aggression by Russia against Ukraine, an ally and a sovereign country whose…”

“I am here today to talk about the escalating aggression by Russia against Ukraine, an ally and a sovereign country whose territorial integrity is once again under attack. In our generation, this is where the fight for freedom is being held; this is where it is being waged. It is going to affect not just Ukraine and Eastern Europe but countries all over the world, depending on the outcome. Today, I am going to address what I think the appropriate role is for us as Americans, what more we can do to help avoid what could become an international disaster and a humanitarian crisis. Russia is the aggressor here, having invaded Ukraine twice in the past 8 years, illegally annexing Crimea, inserting troops and offensive military weaponry into the Donbas region of Ukraine, initiating cyber attacks against public and private entities in Ukraine, and using disinformation to try to destabilize the democratically elected Government of Ukraine. Now they have gone further by amassing more than 100,000 troops under the command of 100 tactical groups on Russia's Ukrainian border. This Russian deployment includes rockets and tanks and artillery and is no longer just on the eastern border of Ukraine, but it is now across the borders, including the northern border, where Russian combat troops and heavy equipment have gone into Belarus. And on the Belarus-Ukrainian border, a Russian presence is being felt.…”