It’s been more than 40 days since Russia invaded Ukraine. On Monday, President Joe Biden called Russia president Vladimir Putin a war criminal. Ohio lawmakers spoke with News Center 7 about whether President Biden’s response would change the United State’s involvement in the war.
Congressman Warren Davidson told News Center 7′s that he doesn’t think the US should change its stance on its involvement in the war.
“I don’t think this is our war to fight,” Davidson said.
Davidson said he was horrified to see the videos that emerged over the weekend and he has access to even more information than civilians see each day through classified briefings. Still, he doesn’t want the US to change its stance militarily.
“Don’t expand the war,” Davidson said. “We should be supportive of Ukraine, but we shouldn’t be fighting this war.”
Davidson voted with most of Congress for a huge military aid program to rush weapons to allow Ukrainian armed forces to defend their country.
Davidson and Senator Rob Portman said they think the Biden Administration can do more to help Ukrainian refugees and pay for eventual rebuilding. It comes in the form of the expensive assets, like $70 million yachts owned by Putin and Russian oligarchs that have been seized.
“Instead of freezing assets of Putin and these oligarchs in Russia, instead of freezing, let’s actually seize those assets,” Portman said.
Portman said selling those items and using the funds to pay for a Ukrainian relief fund is valuable.
In a statement to WHIO, Senator Sherrod Brown said he supports the “critical military assistance to enable Ukraine to defend itself, and powerful sanctions against Putin and his allies to ratchet up pressure on Russia to halt its brutal invasion of Ukraine.”
“We have sanctioned Russian parliamentarians and the parliament itself, dozens more Russian arms merchants and defense firms that have enabled this war, additional Putin cronies, and broad sectors of Russia’s economy. As long as Putin’s invasion goes on, we will continue to lead the world, turning up the heat and weakening Russia’s war machine,” Brown stated.
Davidson said he believes another way to fight Putin is in energy production. He said the US and NATO allies in Europe should refuse to buy oil and gas from Putin. and that the Biden Administration should encourage increased production of the two here.
“They should reverse that policy and focus on energy independence,” Davidson said.
