Feb. 25—Alaska’s congressional delegation responded to Russia’s attack on Ukraine with calls for the U.S. to come together with its allies to oppose Russian President Vladimir Putin, as President Joe Biden hit Russia with more sanctions.
In an interview Thursday, U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan said he hoped the attack and its expected impact on global energy production would serve as a “wakeup call” for the Biden administration to recognize the importance of resource extraction in Alaska, echoing statements made by fellow Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski earlier this week.
“Our adversaries like Putin use energy as a weapon and the fact that (Biden’s) administration has come into office and has tried to unilaterally cut back and shut down American energy production not only hurts families and American workers by raising energy prices, it is national security suicide,” Sullivan said.
Sullivan said he does not condone any American troops deploying to Ukraine, but that he is in support the mission of NATO troops, including U.S. forces, to countries that neighbor Ukraine to the west. He also said he would support the U.S. arming Ukrainians to defend themselves.
A member of the Senate Armed Forces Committee, Sullivan drew a connection between Russia’s actions and potential future aggression by China, saying that the two countries’ leaders “are increasingly working together to achieve their aggressive goals.”
“What’s happening in Ukraine right now, I guarantee the dictator in Beijing is watching as well,” Sullivan said.
“The United States has extraordinary advantages relative to the dictatorships of Russia and China, if we are wise enough to utilize and strengthen them: our global network of allies, our lethal military, our world-class supplies of energy and other natural resources, our dynamic economy, and most important, our democratic values and commitment to liberty,” Sullivan said.
Rep. Don Young’s office issued a message similar to Sullivan’s, pointing to a connection between Russia’s Putin and China’s leader Xi Jinping.
“The actions we take against Putin must send a message of zero tolerance to the Chinese Communist Party and their own desires to choose violence over diplomacy,” Young said in a statement.
“This is our time to stand with the Ukrainian people for peace, democracy, and self-determination,” said Young. “Our second-to-none military, vast availability of natural resources, and committed team of international allies must now stand together to face Putin’s aggression with courage and resolve.”
Murkowski called the invasion a realization of “our worst fears in this crisis.”
“The invasion came with a clear view, formed over the course of years and only reinforced in recent months, that the West is divided and will not make Russia pay for its actions. Now we must prove Vladimir Putin and his regime wrong, and hold them accountable for their aggressions,” Murkowski said, adding that “the world must quickly unite around severe sanctions and penalties to punish Russia for its crimes.”
Kelly Tshibaka, a Trump-endorsed Republican seeking to unset Murkowski in the U.S. Senate in the upcoming election, responded to the attack on Ukraine by criticizing Democratic President Joe Biden, saying the attack “demonstrates what happens to world stability when the United States shows weakness.”
“For too long, Joe Biden placated Putin’s desires to complete a new natural gas pipeline to Germany, which only served to highlight the iron grip Russia has on the energy resources the European Union desperately needs and enabled Putin to be as aggressive as he wanted,” Tshibaka said in a statement.
“The situation also underscores how intricately our own national security is tied to our energy independence, which Biden purposely squandered by attacking Alaska’s resource industries since the day he took office,” Tshibaka added.
Her criticism came after former President Donald Trump promised during a fundraiser held Wednesday to campaign for Tshibaka in Alaska ahead of the election. As the crisis in Ukraine unfolded this week, Trump has praised Putin.
That was a sharply different tone from the one struck by Gov. Mike Dunleavy, a Republican and reliable critic of the Biden administration who on Thursday instead called for unity.
“While we certainly have disagreements with the Biden administration over domestic energy production policies, today we stand as a unified nation against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and attack on democracy. Alaska stands ready to support U.S in efforts to thwart this aggression,” Dunleavy said.
