Washington — Senators Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) and Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) introduced a resolution Thursday condemning the attacks by Russian-backed rebels on civilians in Mariupol, Ukraine, and calling on the president to provide effective aid to the government of Ukraine.

Specifically, the resolution declares that the Senate:

• Condemns the attack on Mariupol by Russian-backed rebels.
• Urges President Obama to provide military assistance to Ukraine as unanimously supported by Congress in the Ukraine Freedom Support Act of 2014, including lethal aid.
• Calls on the United States, its European allies, and the international community to continue to apply pressure on the Russian Federation, especially in the form of sanctions, if the Russian government refuses to cease its aggression in Ukraine.
• Calls on the Russian government to immediately end its support for the rebels in eastern Ukraine, to allow Ukraine to regain control of its internationally recognized borders, and to withdraw its military from eastern Ukraine.
• Expresses solidarity with the people of Ukraine regarding the humanitarian crisis in their country and the destruction caused by the military, financial and ideological support of the government of the Russian Federation for the rebels in eastern Ukraine.

Senator Johnson said of the resolution:  “As chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations subcommittee on Europe and Regional Security Cooperation, I am proud to work with Ranking Member Shaheen to introduce a resolution condemning the recent attacks on the civilian population in Mariupol by Russian-backed rebels and to encourage President Obama to provide lethal and non-lethal military assistance to Ukraine as unanimously supported by Congress in the Ukraine Freedom Support Act of 2014 (Public Law 113-272).” 

“We are united in condemning in the strongest possible terms attacks in Ukraine by Russian-backed separatists,” Senator Shaheen said. “The Administration should immediately provide the Ukrainian government with defensive weapons so Kyiv can stand stronger against Russian aggression and protect its people.”

When Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko spoke before a joint session of Congress, he asked his ally the United States for desperately needed aid, including military aid. He told Congress that Ukraine’s defense forces need more military equipment, both lethal and non-lethal, urgently. Blankets and night-vision goggles are important, Poroshenko said, “but one cannot win the war with blankets. Even more, we cannot keep the peace with a blanket.” 

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