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[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 378 Agreed to Senate (ATS)]

113th CONGRESS
  2d Session
S. RES. 378

           Condemning illegal Russian aggression in Ukraine.

_______________________________________________________________________

                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 11, 2014

   Mr. Durbin (for himself, Mr. Coats, Mr. Menendez, Mr. Corker, Mr. 
Brown, Mr. Kaine, Mr. Warner, Mr. Wicker, Mr. Murphy, Mrs. Shaheen, Mr. 
Barrasso, Mr. Inhofe, Ms. Collins, Mr. Kirk, Mr. Cardin, Mr. Coons, Mr. 
  Boozman, Mr. Johnson of Wisconsin, Mrs. Feinstein, Mr. Markey, Ms. 
   Klobuchar, Mr. Portman, Mr. Johanns, Mr. Rubio, Mr. Isakson, Ms. 
Ayotte, Mr. Cornyn, Mr. Schumer, Mr. Cruz, Mr. McCain, Mrs. Boxer, Mr. 
 Roberts, and Mr. Risch) submitted the following resolution; which was 
                        considered and agreed to

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION

 
           Condemning illegal Russian aggression in Ukraine.

Whereas the recent unprovoked Russian military occupation of the Crimea region 
        of Ukraine, and further military threats against additional Ukrainian 
        territory, are an affront to international norms and agreements and a 
        threat to global peace and security;
Whereas, under President Vladimir Putin, the Russian Federation has a history of 
        bullying neighboring countries in an attempt to rebuild Russian 
        dominance on its borders--often under the guise of protecting Russian 
        citizens--including forcibly seizing the South Ossetia and Abkhazia 
        regions of the independent Republic of Georgia in 2008;
Whereas the Russian Federation continues to illegally occupy South Ossetia and 
        Abkhazia and has erected fences along administrative boundary lines and 
        permanent military bases in violation of the cease fire agreement 
        negotiated with the European Union;
Whereas, during 2013, then-President of Ukraine Viktor Yanukovych faced similar 
        Russian coercion to not sign a long-negotiated Association Agreement 
        with the European Union, including threats to gas contracts, the supply 
        of which the Russian Federation turned off in 2006 and 2009;
Whereas, in November 2013, President Yanukovych abruptly canceled plans to sign 
        the Association Agreement, saying Ukraine could not afford to sacrifice 
        trade with the Russian Federation as a result;
Whereas, for three ensuing months, hundreds of thousands of protesters in 
        Ukraine endured cold and government harassment and violence to protest 
        the decision and demand closer ties to the West;
Whereas, on February 20, 2014, Ukrainian security forces, including heavily 
        armed snipers, fired on demonstrators in Kyiv, leaving dozens dead and 
        the people of Ukraine reeling from the most lethal day of violence since 
        the Soviet era, and many of Yanukovych's political allies, including the 
        mayor of the Kyiv, resigned from his governing Party of Regions to 
        protest the bloodshed;
Whereas, on February 22, 2014, the Ukrainian parliament found then-President 
        Yanukovych unable to fulfill his duties, exercised its constitutional 
        powers to remove him from office, and set an election for May 25, 2014, 
        to select his replacement;
Whereas, amid Ukraine's economic hardships, President Yanukovych amassed a 
        lavish secret estate that included a private zoo, exotic gardens, 
        numerous automobiles, and a tall ship;
Whereas, on February 27, 2014, heavily armed soldiers without identification or 
        insignia began securing key facilities in the Crimea, including its 
        regional parliament and two airports, and in the ensuing days encircled 
        Ukrainian military facilities and gained effective control of the 
        region;
Whereas the military forces are clearly Russian troops, and on March 1, 2014, 
        President Putin sought and received rubber stamp parliamentary approval 
        to use military force against greater Ukraine, having argued that the 
        Government of the Russian Federation acted because of the ``threat of 
        violence from ultranationalists'';
Whereas there has been no credible evidence of serious threats to Russian 
        citizens in Crimea or elsewhere in Ukraine, and the Russian Federation's 
        military invasion has been widely condemned internationally;
Whereas the Russian Federation, as a signatory to the 1994 Budapest Memorandum, 
        reaffirmed its commitment to Ukraine, to respect the independence and 
        sovereignty and the existing borders of Ukraine, to refrain from the 
        threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political 
        independence of Ukraine, to refrain from economic coercion to 
        subordinate Ukraine to Russia's interests, and to consult in the event a 
        situation arises that raises a question concerning these commitments;
Whereas, in 1997, the Russian Federation and Ukraine signed a friendship treaty, 
        during which time Russian President Boris Yeltsin said in Kyiv, ``We 
        respect and honor the territorial integrity of Ukraine.'';
Whereas the Russian Federation, as a participating state in the Final Act of the 
        Conference for Security and Cooperation in Europe in 1975 (Helsinki 
        Final Act), committed to respect the sovereign equality and 
        individuality of other participating states, including the right of 
        every state to territorial integrity and to freedom and political 
        independence, to refrain from the threat or use of force against the 
        territorial integrity or political independence of any state, to regard 
        as inviolable all one another's frontiers as well as the frontiers of 
        all states in Europe, and to refrain from making each other's territory 
        the object of military occupation;
Whereas, under United Nations Charter Article 2, all members shall settle 
        international disputes by peaceful means in a manner that international 
        peace and security are not endangered and refrain from the threat or use 
        of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of 
        any state;
Whereas President Putin himself wrote in 2013, ``Under current international 
        law, force is permitted only in self-defense or by the decision of the 
        Security Council. Anything else is unacceptable under the United Nations 
        Charter and would constitute an act of aggression.'';
Whereas the North Atlantic Council stated that Russian military action against 
        Ukraine is a breach of international law and contravenes the principles 
        of the NATO-Russia Council and the Partnership for Peace and that Russia 
        must respect its obligations under the United Nations Charter and 
        principles of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe 
        (OSCE), on which peace and stability in Europe rest;
Whereas leaders of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, 
        and the United States and the presidents of the European Council and the 
        European Commission condemned the Russian Federation's clear violation 
        of Ukrainian sovereignty and territorial integrity, in contravention of 
        the Russian Federation's obligations under the United Nations Charter 
        and its 1997 basing agreement with Ukraine;
Whereas, on February 28, 2014, President Barack Obama stated that the United 
        States is ``deeply concerned by reports of military movements taken by 
        the Russian Federation inside of Ukraine'' and that it ``would be a 
        clear violation of Russia's commitment to respect the independence and 
        sovereignty and borders of Ukraine, and of international law''; and
Whereas President Obama pledged that ``the United States will stand with the 
        international community in affirming that there will be costs for any 
        military intervention in Ukraine'': Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the Senate--
            (1) condemns the unprovoked and illegal Russian military 
        seizure of the Ukrainian Crimea and demands the immediate 
        withdrawal of Russian forces except as specifically allowed for 
        by treaty;
            (2) demands the immediate release of besieged Ukrainian 
        security forces in Crimea, who have shown remarkable restraint 
        under threat;
            (3) warns that failure to do so or any additional military 
        action against other areas of Ukraine will lead to swift and 
        significant consequences in the Russian Federation's relations 
        with the United States and those nations who share our views;
            (4) urges the President to use all appropriate economic 
        elements of United States national power, in coordination with 
        United States allies, including loan guarantees matched with 
        requirements of international financial institutions regarding 
        Ukrainian economic reforms and transparency, to strengthen the 
        Ukrainian economy and protect the independence, sovereignty, 
        and territorial and economic integrity of Ukraine;
            (5) urges the President to use appropriate economic and 
        diplomatic measures, including calibrated sanctions, against 
        those responsible for the illegal seizure of Crimea;
            (6) urges the President to propose to G-8 nations to 
        suspend the Russian Federation, and to propose to our NATO 
        allies to suspend operation of the NATO-Russia Council and 
        suspend the Russian Federation's military and diplomatic 
        representation at NATO;
            (7) condemns the economic coercion pursued by the Russian 
        Federation beginning in July 2013 against Ukraine, Moldova, 
        Lithuania, and other countries in the region in order to 
        obstruct closer ties between the European Union and the 
        countries of the Eastern Partnership and supports the people of 
        Ukraine in their desire to forge closer ties with Europe;
            (8) supports assisting Ukraine and United States allies in 
        the region in gaining energy security in order to alleviate 
        their vulnerability to the Russian Federation's threats and 
        manipulations;
            (9) expresses its continuing support for democratic allies 
        who regularly face aggression on their borders from the 
        Government of the Russian Federation and supports enhanced 
        security cooperation with, and security assistance to, states 
        in Central and Eastern Europe, including Ukraine;
            (10) encourages governments in Europe to take similar and 
        coordinated actions to make it clear to the Government of the 
        Russian Federation that violating the territorial integrity of 
        sovereign nations will have swift and significant consequences;
            (11) calls for the immediate acceptance of a credible 
        international observer mission in Crimea and other parts of the 
        Ukraine;
            (12) calls on the Government of the Russian Federation to 
        seriously engage with the Government of Ukraine in a political 
        dialogue on a political and diplomatic path that respects 
        Ukrainian sovereignty and the Crimea's complex historic and 
        ethnic makeup;
            (13) supports the efforts of the Government of Ukraine to 
        bring to justice those responsible for the acts of violence 
        related to the anti-government protests that began on November 
        21, 2013;
            (14) supports the efforts of the Government of Ukraine to 
        recover and return to the Ukrainian state funds stolen by 
        former President Yanukovych, his family, and other current and 
        former members of the Government of Ukraine and elites; and
            (15) calls upon the leadership of the Federation 
        Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) to reconsider its 
        decision to place World Cup 2018 matches in Russia.
                                 <all>
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