March 09, 2022

STATEMENT: Auchincloss: “Putin Has Caused This Pain”

 

STATEMENT: Auchincloss: “Putin Has Caused This Pain”

Washington, D.C. - Please see the below statement from Congressman Jake Auchincloss (D,MA-04). 

LINK: https://twitter.com/RepAuchincloss/status/1501633439165988865?s=20&t=cJ0_R-nb_nfu2L_IqsdXgg 

“President Biden’s executive order is welcome but insufficient. Here are 10 actions to deepen President Putin’s pain and support Ukraine, while using diplomatic and legal channels to contain the conflict. Vladimir Putin has caused this pain. He is responsible for the misfortunes of Russia, and any suggestions otherwise are misguided.

“Deepen Putin’s pain and expand support for the Ukrainian resistance:

  1. Coordinate a global embargo on Russian oil. Maximize existing domestic & OPEC production to backfill supply

  2. Increase diplomatic pressure on Beijing to distance itself from the Kremlin, including consideration of secondary sanctions on Sino-Russian financial & commodities ties

  3. Work with NATO allies to increase the supply of airplanes, drones, anti-tank, anti-aircraft, and anti-drone weapons & training to Ukrainian forces, for the duration of the conflict

  4. Wage deniable, surgical cyber-attacks on Russian command & control and logistics nodes within Ukraine

  5. Expand information operations designed to demoralize Russian troops in Ukraine

“Work through legal & diplomatic channels to keep the temperature down while we dial the pressure up:

  1. Plan with Ukraine, Poland, Hungary, Romania, and/or Slovakia to host Ukrainian training facilities and a government-in-exile if needed. Use Article 4 consultations to assuage their security concerns.

  2. Issue a statement from NATO clarifying the Russian actions that would trigger Article 5, to avoid inadvertent escalation

  3. Backchannel to the Kremlin that NATO would not wage cyber-attacks in the Russian homeland unless Russia cyberattacks NATO first

  4. Insist that all Ukrainian forces, whether organized or guerilla, be recognized as combatants and that atrocities against civilians will lead to prosecution against the Kremlin security elite, including the president, at the Hague

  5. Present an off-ramp for President Putin by indicating that (a) NATO will still engage in security talks with him and (b) on-the-ground progress towards a sovereign, secure, and democratic Ukraine will lead to calibrated sanctions relief” 

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