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Ahead of NATO and Trump-Putin Summits, Rubio & Colleagues Reiterate Importance of Penalizing Russia for Invading Crimea

Jul 10, 2018 | Press Releases

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senators Marco Rubio (R-FL), Bob Menendez (D-NJ), and Rob Portman (R-OH) today introduced a Senate Resolution condemning the Russian Federation’s ongoing illegal occupation of Crimea. The bipartisan resolution comes ahead of President Trump’s scheduled trip to Europe, where he will attend a NATO Summit in Brussels as well as meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Helsinki.

Affirming the Senate’s full support for the sanctions the United States and the European Union have imposed against Russia for its illegal annexation of Ukraine, the Senators’ resolution calls on the Trump Administration to formalize a policy of non-recognition of Russia’s illegal annexation of Crimea. During the Cold War, the United States adopted a firm non-recognition policy with the Welles Declaration, which condemned the forced annexation of the Baltic States by the Soviet Union. 

The resolution was also co-sponsored by Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL),  Pat Toomey (R-PA), Chris Coons (D-DE),  Ed Markey (D-MA), Johnny Isakson (R-GA), Ben Cardin (D-MD), and Sherrod Brown (D-OH).

A copy of the resolution can be found HERE.