“Vladimir Putin is taking dangerous actions that violate Ukraine’s sovereignty, reduce the possibility of a diplomatic solution, and open the door to further invasion with his decision last night to recognize the separatist regions and send Russian forces into Ukrainian territory. He does not care an iota about the people living in the Donbas - his declarations serve only the cause of his own ambitions to restore Russian domination over the peoples of Eastern Europe and stamp out the hard-won democracy in Ukraine, which he perceives as a threat to his autocratic rule in Russia. Not only is this move an intolerable violation of the postwar international order; it is a violation of Russia’s own commitments under the 1994 Budapest Memorandum.   “President Biden and the international community see right through Putin's theater and false pretexts. Today, the Biden-Harris Administration and our European allies are responding swiftly with initial sanctions, including financial actions against Russia’s sovereign debt and its financial institutions as well as Germany’s removal of authorization for the NordStream 2 pipeline. These unified steps make clear that the United States and our allies are not bluffing in our determination to inflict serious and painful consequences on Russia in response to Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.  The Congress will be prepared to take further action if additional action is deemed necessary.   “These sanctions are just the beginning if Putin continues this dangerous land grab.  We have also provided Ukraine with large shipments of weapons and equipment to fight off any invasion and will not waiver in our continued support of Ukrainians’ right to defend their homeland.  Putin must pull back Russian forces and accept a diplomatic process that preserves Ukrainian sovereignty, democracy, and territorial integrity. Putin must recognize that there is no room in the modern global order for a nation to launch a war against its neighbor for the aggrandizement of power, influence, or territory - and that the free world will unite to reject that premise when tested.”