U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy, a Connecticut Democrat active on Ukraine issues, told the Kyiv Post during a March 13 interview that he believes Congress will resist pressure from American companies that are against strong sanctions to punish Russia's invasion of the Crimean peninsula.
“Ultimately, I don’t think the hesitancy of U.S. companies is going to stop the Congress from enacting sanctions,” Murphy said. “Companies look out for their bottom line. Congress looks out for the national security of the United States. On this question, the national security interests of the United States outweigh the profit considerations of these companies.”
Murphy and several other U.S. senators, including Republican John McCain of Arizona, Dick Durban of Illinois and Republican Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, are in Kyiv this weekend to assess Ukraine’s needs in light of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula and threat to annex the territory and possibly launch a military invasion of mainland Ukraine.
Murphy said that private companies with strong economic ties to Russia are actively lobbying German, British and French officials against tough sanctions on the Kremlin, but he believes the European allies agree that “the downside of Russia going unchecked in their aggression” greatly outweighs the economic costs to the West of halting trade ties with Moscow.
On the question of Western aid to Ukraine, Murphy said that Ukraine’s history of corruption is well-known in America, but that he expressed confidence in Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk and the International Monetary Fund.
“Ukraine clearly has a long way to go to clean up the festering corruption that in part drove the Maidan,” Murphy said, referring to the EuroMaidan Revolution that toppled Viktor Yanukovych as president on Feb. 21. “I have faith in Yatsenyuk. I know he cannot clean up the bureaucracy overnight. But the IMF is not going to sign off an an aid package until they know the money is going to go to proper use. The IMF has been down this road before in Ukraine. Nobody should doubt the seriousness of the IMF. I have faith in Yatsenyuk and I have faith that the IMF will insist that governance reforms will be made before they put a dime in the Ukrainian economy.”
There is still debate in America over whether to supply weapons and other military aid to Ukraine to help the nation defend itself from Russian attack of the nation’s mainland. U.S. senators such as John McCain, the Republican from Arizona, want arms to be shipped immediately. But U.S. President Barack Obama is still considering whether to approve arms shipments to Ukraine.
Murphy said that there are doubts about the Ukrainian military’s ability to use the weapons, given its currently poor state of preparedness. “Before I’m going to make a decision about whether i’m going to support sending arms, i’m going to have to have more facts than I have today,” Murphy said.
If Russia invades eastern Ukraine, as its military exercises in western Russian suggest that it is preparing to do, Murphy expects that Ukrainians will put up a good fight.
“I don’t see a military solution,” Murphy said. “But clearly I’d expect there to be significant resistance among the Ukrainian population in the east that may last for weeks and possibly may last for years. Hopefully, Putin is calculating the potential ferocity of guerrilla resistance in the decisions he’s making. I don’t believe there are too many simple wars. These days, for two countries or two peoples to meet in battle, given all the protections in favor of peace, you have a have a longstanding history of conflicts of interest to march into battle.”
Murphy said that the U.S. Senate had hoped to pass Ukraine’s $1 billion aid package, along with other forms of assistance, on March 13. But the vote was delayed because of the objections of a Republican senator. The bill should be passed next week with a clear 60-vote majority in the 100-seat Senate, Murphy said. He said that some senators wanted to hold up the aid until Obama agreed to stop investigations into whether non-profit groups are improperly engaged in political activities.
“It is unconscionable to hold up aid to an important ally in Ukraine simply because you are trying to protect some of your super-PAC (Political Action Committee) friends that are helping you win elections. That not just my opinion. That’s what McCain and others said on the floor last night. This is the kind of Washington political horse trading that peole are sick and tired of.”
Kyiv Post chief editor Brian Bonner can be reached at [email protected]
Murphy’s statement on committee passage of Ukraine legislation
