Spartz Stands by Ukraine in Statement on Russian Invasion

In a statement released Thursday morning in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Ukranian-born Congresswoman Victoria Spartz (R-IN) criticized the Biden administration’s handling of the crisis and called on Americans to support Ukraine.

She said, “As a Ukrainian-born American who deeply loves our great United States of America and will always stand with you to protect it from any enemy—foreign or domestic—I would like to express my utmost disappointment with the lack of leadership and strategy on multiple fronts on the part of the current administration that puts our great country and our allies in danger.”

“I would also like to ask my fellow Americans to stand with the people of Ukraine in their fight for peace and freedom against evil. They are fighting this war not just for them, but for all of us. Please keep them in your thoughts and prayers and be vigilant in our fight to preserve our freedoms for our children and for all people who died for them.”

“We are a strong country of free people and always will be!”

Weeks of negotiations and talks between the Biden administration, the Ukranian government, the Russian government and NATO collapsed on Wednesday evening as Russian military forces deployed out of the occupied regions of Luhansk and Donetsk and into Ukraine itself The Biden administration, in conjunction with EU member states, announced a sweeping, unprecedented set of sanctions targeting Russian oligarchs, key members of Vladimir Putin’s inner-circle, and Russian banks and businesses. The administration has maintained that US forces will not engage with Russian troops in Ukraine, but in a press conference on Thursday to announce the new set of sanctions, President Biden reiterated the United States commitment to Article 5 of the NATO treaty, which requires all NATO members to consider an attack on one member to be an attack against all members.