February 21, 2022

CANTON, OH – U.S. Senate candidate Jane Timken released the following statement on Russia’s disregard for Ukrainian sovereignty and it’s deployment of forces: 

“It is no coincidence that Vladimir Putin is invading Ukraine under Joe Biden’s weak and feckless leadership. From day one, Biden emboldened Russia by giving them a new START treaty with no conditions, declaring only 16 infrastructure entities ‘off-limits’ after the Colonial Pipeline hack, and ceding American energy dominance to Putin by greenlighting the Nord Stream 2 Pipeline and canceling the Keystone XL Pipeline.

Ronald Reagan and Donald Trump’s ‘peace through strength’ doctrine worked, and as a U.S. Senator, I would have pushed long ago for crushing economic sanctions against Russia and vital military aid for Ukraine. 

While I am 100% opposed to sending U.S. troops to Ukraine and believe intervening militarily would be a mistake, Biden must immediately impose sanctions and respond with strength, including putting an end to the Nord Stream 2 Pipeline. 

I believe ‘America First’ means protecting American security interests at home and abroad, and a Russian-controlled Ukraine will directly impact American energy prices causing Ohioans to pay more at the gas pump, fuel food inflation, and further disrupt supply chains while sending a blaring notice to China, North Korea, and Iran that America and our allies are vulnerable.

Former Obama-Biden official Robert Gates once said that Biden has ‘been wrong on nearly every major foreign policy and national security issue over the past four decades.’ Biden can now add the fall of Afghanistan, the rise of the Taliban, an emboldened China and Iran, and the beginning of Putin’s attempt to rebuild the Soviet Union to that humiliating list. Americans are less safe because of Joe Biden and Democrat leadership.”

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