Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., came out in support of President Joe Biden’s recent foreign policy moves on Wednesday.
He praised Biden’s speech on the Russia-Ukrainian tensions gripping Eastern Europe and called for American unity.
“Yesterday, President Biden addressed the country about the ongoing crisis that Russia has created on its border with Ukraine,” the Republican leader said. “There was much in the President’s remarks that I appreciated.”
“He was right to candidly remind the Russian people that neither the United States nor NATO nor Ukraine want a war,” McConnell continued. “He was right to emphasize that the world will not shrug or stand idly by if Vladimir Putin tries to invade his neighbor, or redraw the map of Europe through deadly force.”
“It’s fine for President Biden to engage in good faith diplomacy provided we’re skeptical about Putin’s intentions.”
McConnell said that the U.S. must send strong messages to Russia “verbally and with concrete actions.”
“I’m hopeful that President Biden will rise to the occasion,” he said, and called for unity among politicians against Russian aggression.
“As a bipartisan group of colleagues and I made clear in a joint statement yesterday, the President would have overwhelming bipartisan support to use his existing executive authorities for tough sanctions against Russia in the event of conflict.”
This is the second time McConnell has come out in support of Biden’s stance against Russia.
In January, the longtime Republican leader also praised the Biden administration’s approach in Ukraine after he’d urged the White House to get tough.
“I read that the president was huddled at Camp David Sunday with his team and what I’ve been hearing since then is encouraging that they’re prepared to take steps before an incursion, and not afterward,” McConnell said on January 25.
“My advice to the White House from the very beginning was that whatever steps we are going to take, and I’ll outline the steps that I think ought to be taken, need to be taken before an invasion, not afterward,” he said at the time. “Once the Russians have grabbed a piece of Ukraine or tried to overthrow the entire government. It’s really too late.”
“It appears to me the administration is moving in the right direction,” McConnell said.
The Horn editorial team