Russian President Vladimir Putin | Wikimedia Commons/Presidential Press and Information Office
Russian President Vladimir Putin | Wikimedia Commons/Presidential Press and Information Office
U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey (R-PA) supports potentially crippling sanctions against Russia if they invade Ukraine in order “to counter the aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine.”
Toomey, the U.S. Senate Banking Committee ranking member, along with U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee Ranking Member Sen. Jim Risch (R-ID) introduced the Never Yielding Europe’s Territory (NYET) Act in response.
“If Russia invades Ukraine, the U.S. must impose crippling secondary sanctions on the entirety of Russia’s financial sector," Toomey said in a press release on his official website. "That will make it crystal clear to (Russian President Vladimir) Putin that he cannot afford an attack or occupation of Ukraine.”
The first draft of the new Act describes a number of central components to answer the aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine by emergency appropriations, waivers and international military education.
Another goal of the Act is to answer the Kremlin's power in the region by improving Ukraine's cyber defenses and increasing their economic connections with their Baltic allies. The Act also provides for sanctions on any nation who would choose to aid the Russian Armed Forces and additional financial penalties on the financial institutions of Russia.
Many of these sanctions would be focused on Russian banks in the event that the Act passes, according to Toomey's website.
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