Supporting an independent and democratic Ukraine.

Whereas, on August 24, 1991, the Ukrainian Parliament voted overwhelmingly for independence from the Soviet Union and set December 1, 1991, for a national independence referendum; Whereas, on December 1, 1991, more than 90 percent of Ukrainians voting in the referendum supported independence; Whereas, by December 25, 1991, the United States joined more than 20 countries, including Russia, in recognizing Ukrainian independence; Whereas, on December 5, 1994, Ukraine joined the United States, Russia, and the United Kingdom in signing the Budapest Memorandum on Security Assurances Whereas, on February 8, 1994, Ukraine was the first member state of the Commonwealth of Independent States to join the Partnership for Peace program of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and has since been recognized as an Enhanced Opportunities Partner; Whereas, beginning February 20, 2014, the Russian Federation clandestinely invaded Ukraine, with Russian troops claiming to be Ukrainian separatists, and since then have militarily occupied the regions of Crimea and Donbas; Whereas, on July 17, 2014, Russian-backed separatists shot down Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 over eastern Ukraine with Russian missiles, killing all 298 people on board; Whereas, on September 5, 2014, Ukraine, the Russian Federation, and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) signed the Minsk Protocol aimed at ending the conflict, which the Russian Federation continued to violate; Whereas, on February 12, 2015, a new package of measures to end the conflict in Ukraine was signed, known as Minsk II; Whereas, throughout 2021 and early 2022, Russia deployed a massive troop and weapons buildup on the border with Ukraine; Whereas, on December 7, 2021, President Joseph R. Biden, Jr., warned Russian President Vladimir Putin that the West would impose strong economic and other measures Whereas, in the early morning of February 24, 2022, in Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a large-scale invasions of sovereign Ukraine: Now, therefore, be it That the House of Representatives— (1) stands unequivocally with the Ukrainian people and supports Ukraine’s sovereignty and right to self-governance; (2) condemns in the strongest terms Russian President Vladimir Putin’s full-scale, unprovoked war on Ukraine and violations of international laws and principles; (3) reaffirms our commitment to work with our allies of the free world and the Biden administration to provide lethal weapons for Ukraine's defense, as well as, nonlethal, diplomatic, intelligence, and humanitarian support to Ukraine; (4) calls on the Biden administration to immediately enact additional crippling, punitive sanctions on Vladimir Putin and his Russian authoritarian regime as well as appoint a United States Ambassador to Ukraine without further delay; (5) urges all members of international governing bodies to which the Russian Federation belongs to publicly condemn President Putin’s aggression and demonstrate in word and deed that Russia’s actions exclude them from any legitimate seat in the international community; and (6) reaffirms unwavering United States support for a secure, democratic, and independent Ukraine free to choose its own leaders and future.

Summary: This resolution expresses that the House of Representatives stands unequivocally with the Ukrainian people and supports Ukraine's sovereignty and right to self-governance; condemns Russian President Vladimir Putin's full-scale, unprovoked war on Ukraine and violations of international laws and principles; reaffirms the commitment to work with allies of the free world and the Biden Administration to provide lethal weapons for Ukraine's defense, as well as, nonlethal, diplomatic, intelligence, and humanitarian support to Ukraine; calls on the Biden Administration to immediately enact additional crippling, punitive sanctions on Vladimir Putin and his Russian authoritarian regime as well as appoint a U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine without further delay; and urges all members of international governing bodies to which the Russian Federation belongs to publicly condemn President Putin's aggression.