US Sen. Dick Durbin urges stricter sanctions in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine

U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin said Friday that the U.S. needs to “send a strong message” in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and urged a doubling down on the U.S. commitment to NATO, stricter sanctions against Russia and its oligarchs and cutting off energy purchases from the nation.

“If we are going to have a peaceful world, we need world order,” Durbin, the second highest-ranking Democrat in the Senate, said during a visit to the Ukrainian Cultural Center in Chicago’s Ukrainian Village neighborhood. “Someone like (Russian President Vladimir) Putin cannot defy that world order and set out to control an innocent nation like Ukraine.”

While noting that President Joe Biden is seeking to balance sanctions against U.S. economic stability, Durbin said that “to think that the U.S. is dependent on Russia for oil and gas at all, at all, is unacceptable.”

“We have to let the Russian president and the people of this nation know they will pay a heavy price for this deadly attack on innocent Ukraine,” Durbin said.

While the U.S. is unlikely to get involved in defending Ukraine on the ground, Durbin said that “any invasion of Poland, Lithuania, Latvia or any other NATO state will unleash an overwhelming force.”

Durbin spoke to leaders of Chicago’s Ukrainian community, assuring them that he is a pro-Ukraine voice in Congress. Members of the Senate and the Biden administration met Thursday to discuss sending humanitarian aid to Ukraine and Poland, which has welcomed those fleeing Ukraine, said Durbin, who co-chairs the Senate Ukraine Caucus and the Baltic Freedom Caucus.

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The Biden administration announced sanctions against Russia Thursday, targeting Russian banks, oligarchs and high-tech sectors, though the president said U.S. troops in Europe are there to defend NATO allies — which include Poland, Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia — not to engage in the conflict.

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Durbin vowed to push for Congress to extend temporary protected status to Ukraine and allow Ukrainian visitors in America to stay until the conflict is over. Asked whether the U.S. would waive visa requirements for Ukrainians, Durbin said he would be “willing to consider” the notion, though it would be a “very difficult time” for the U.S. to implement such an action.

Also elevating concern is the movement of 30,000 Russian troops to Belarus in recent weeks under the guise of running drills. Belarus makes up much of Ukraine’s northern border and also neighbors Poland, Latvia and Lithuania. The nation’s leader, President Alexander Lukashenko, is “the last dictator in Europe,” Durbin said.

While Russia’s deployment to Belarus provokes concern, Durbin said people living in Poland and the Baltic States should be reassured that NATO forces have fortified those areas.

Durbin attended the Munich Security Conference last weekend, where world leaders discussed the expectation of Putin’s invasion. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy made a personal appeal at the meeting for support, “risking his life” to do so, said Durbin, who noted the U.S. provided Zelenskyy with security for the trip. He then traveled to Poland and Lithuania before returning to his home state.

“For those from the Chicagoland area who say, ‘Well, I’m from a different part of the world, this doesn’t affect me,’ it does,” Durbin said. “What is at stake here is really very basic.

“As you travel across Europe, you come across cemeteries of the fallen soldiers of the United States, the men and women who went overseas to fight the battle against the Nazis, against the communists, over the years, and gave their lives in doing that,” Durbin said. “They were standing up for principles and values, which are still as viable today as they were 75 years ago.”

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