New
York
(UCCA) - Earlier today, President Donald Trump welcomed Ukraine's President Petro Poroshenko to the Oval
Office for a frank discussion about recent developments in Ukraine, as well as continuing the United States' support of Ukraine in
defense of its sovereignty and democratic values.
Today's meeting came on the heels of Speaker Paul Ryan
and Chairman of Ukraine's Parliament, Andriy Parubiy, meeting last week and
signing a Memorandum of Understanding reaffirming the U.S. Congress - Verkhovna
Rada Parliamentary Exchange (CRPE). Also today, the United States Treasury
sanctioned 38 additional individuals & entities related to Russia's continued occupation of Crimea.
While all of these developments serve to demonstrate
to the world that the longstanding strategic alliance between Ukraine and the United
States continues on, we can ill afford to sit back while Russia
continues to go on the offensive. Since the beginning of 2017, there have been
nearly 2,000 recorded attacks by Russian forces across the ‘ceasefire' line in Ukraine, with
dozens of civilians killed this year alone. Russian forces have also resumed
firing heavy artillery onto Ukrainian positions, as well as deployed portable
rocket launchers.
In response to Russia's
aggressive military action in Ukraine
and malicious cyber activity against the United States and our allies, the
U.S. Senate deliberated and passed a new sanctions regime last week by an
overwhelming vote of 97-2. These new sanctions target Russia's
mining, metal, shipping, and railway sectors, parts of its energy sector, and
individuals who have conducted business with its intelligence or defense
sectors. Included in the list of potential penalties are provisions which would
enable the United States to impose sanctions on European firms involved in
financing Russia's oil and gas pipelines to Europe, including the Nord Stream 2
pipeline that is being built under the Baltic Sea to provide Russian gas to
Germany. Furthermore, this legislation would cement into law existing sanctions
on Russia enacted following
its invasion of Ukraine and
its meddling into the 2016 U.S.
presidential campaign. Lastly, this legislation has been appended to a
universally supported sanctions bill against the nation of Iran in order
that it might be quickly enacted.
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The Ukrainian Congress Committee of America (UCCA),
the largest grassroots representation of Americans of Ukrainian descent, calls
upon supporters of Ukraine
in this country to contact their elected Representatives TODAY to urge them to
take up the Countering Iran's Destabilizing Activities Act in the House of
Representatives. This critical legislation was received by the House the
morning after its overwhelming passage in the Senate, but it has been relegated
to a subcommittee where it is in danger of being watered down, or worse yet,
left unpassed before the August recess.
Our community, like other ethnic communities throughout this great
nation whose people and homelands have come under attack by Putin's Russia, believe instead that the United States should maintain and strengthen
sanctions to ratchet up the pressure on Russia
and those companies which support Russia's
illegal actions in Ukraine.
Emboldened by our unity, our elected leaders should furthermore honor the
commitments made to our strategic allies, and provide Ukraine with defensive
weapons, equipment, and training as already authorized by Congress in order to
counter Russia's offenses and reestablish Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial
integrity.