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Rep. French Hill to Newsmax: Strong Sanctions on Russia Needed Now
by Sandy Fitzgerald
Newsmax
February 21, 2022

Mistakes by the Obama-Biden administration created the potential for war in Ukraine when Russia "took Crimea without a shot," but at this point, a strong set of sanctions would show the United States backs Ukrainian sovereignty, Rep. French Hill said on Newsmax Monday. 

"They were giving not giving lethal arms to Ukraine," the Arkansas Republican said on Newsmax's "John Bachman Now."

All that changed in the Trump administration, when President [Donald] Trump armed the Ukrainians with lethal defensive weapons."

But Russia has already violated U.N. rules and agreements on Ukraine, said Hill, noting that he agrees with former Ambassador Ric Grenell for sanctions.

"They're already due sanctions," that haven't happened under President Joe Biden, he continued. 

"To compound that mistake, just a few months ago, Joe Biden greenlighted, at the request of Germany, the Nord Stream 2 pipeline; so that's where we find us today, and that's why I support a bipartisan, bicameral, strong set of sanctions in the House and the Senate backing Ukraine's full sovereignty."

Meanwhile, it's the Biden administration's official position that if sanctions are issued, that would give Russian President Vladimir Putin the pretext to attack Ukraine, but Putin has never paid a price for the invasion of Georgia or for his "mass murder partnership" with Syrian President Bashar Assad, said Hill. 

"That's why I believe that he thinks he won't pay a price now, so I think it's a very difficult situation for the United States," but it would help if Biden would approve strong sanctions against Russia. 

Meanwhile, the United States has lost the energy independence it had under former President Trump, and that's because of the focus of the Biden administration on climate change, said Hill.

"The Biden-Harris administration is all about curtailing supply, discouraging investments in liquefied natural gas, and transporting that to our Asian partners and to Europe," said Hill. "There's no bigger, I'd say, illustration of that than shutting down the Keystone pipeline from Canada to the United States and greenlighting the Nord Stream 2 pipeline from Russia to Europe and making Europe more dependent on Russian gas." 

However, climate change is the "No. issue for every Cabinet officer in the Biden administration," said Hill. "It's their absolute core belief, and therefore they put national security all behind their Green New Deal. It's a destructive social policy here in the U.S., and it puts America at risk for national security policy."