Durbin To President Trump: The Whole World Is Watching To See If You Will Stand Firm Against Putin
It’s time for Leader Thune to pass the bipartisan Russia sanctions bill and prepare another Ukraine supplemental
WASHINGTON – In a speech on the Senate floor, U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Co-Chair of the Senate Ukraine Caucus, warned President Trump that Russian President Vladimir Putin has no intention to end the war in Ukraine without greater pressure. Durbin began his speech by highlighting the horrific atrocities Putin has committed over the years—starting 11 years ago when he invaded Crimea.
“Anyone following this war can clearly see that Vladimir Putin isn’t serious about ending this bloody conflict that he started,” said Durbin. “Let’s not forget that 11 years ago, he [Putin] militarily seized Crimea and other parts of eastern Ukraine. More than three years ago Putin tried to take over Ukraine itself and install a puppet regime beholden to him.”
Since Putin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the Ukrainian people have been resilient amid the brutal Russian onslaught, as Durbin outlined in his speech.
“With advance warning and weapons from the United States, the brave Ukrainians defied the experts. They said the Ukrainians couldn’t last two weeks defending their country against the second largest military in the world. The experts were wrong. Those Ukrainians have protected their Independence from brutality, but at great cost in lives, destruction, and territory. The costs have been staggering—thousands of individuals have lost their lives because of this Russian invasion… Why do I revisit the obvious? Because it has been obvious for more than a decade that Vladimir Putin isn’t interested in ending the war,” said Durbin. “Obvious to everyone perhaps except our own President.”
During his speech, Durbin warned President Trump not to be fooled by Putin.
Durbin continued, “President Trump promised he would end this war first day in office. Instead, Trump and his Vice President publicly humiliated Ukrainian President Zelenskyy and made embarrassing overtures to Putin. Putin’s response has been to thumb his nose at the U.S. and peace efforts. In fact, already this year civilian Ukrainian deaths from Russian attacks are higher than they were during the same period last year and assaults on civilian targets in the last two weeks alone have been relentless.”
“I want this war to end, but it should not be a blatant giveaway to Putin or driven by any illusion about Putin’s long-term intentions to control Ukraine and weaken the NATO alliance. Nor can it come at the security expense of our Baltic and Polish allies who are also in Putin’s crosshairs. That is why Leader Thune needs to immediately put Senator Graham’s Russia sanctions bill, which I and 80 other Senators have cosponsored, on the Floor for a vote… It is also time for us to prepare another Ukraine supplemental [as] Ukraine needs the equipment and ammunition.”
Durbin concluded, “President Trump: the whole world is watching to see if you will stand firm against Putin, especially our other adversaries. Putin is not your friend and not a friend of the United States. You do not want your legacy to be appeasement and surrender to Russia and a weakening of our transatlantic security.”
Durbin condemned President Trump after he publicly attacked Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the Oval Office. Further parroting a Kremlin propaganda point, President Trump also falsely claimed that Ukraine started the war against Russia. In the post, President Trump claimed the U.S. was “duped” into spending billions to help Ukraine defend itself following Russia’s 2022 full-scale military invasion and that President Zelenskyy is a “dictator without elections.”
Video of Durbin’s remarks on the Senate floor is available here.
Audio of Durbin’s remarks on the Senate floor is available here.
Footage of Durbin’s remarks on the Senate floor is available here for TV Stations.
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