LANSING, Mich. (March. 1, 2022) — Sens. Stephanie Chang (D-Detroit) and Paul Wojno (D-Warren) today introduced Senate Resolution 111 to condemn the Russian invasion of Ukraine and urged the world community to unite by issuing sanctions against the Russian government.
On Feb. 23, 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin unleashed a military operation in Ukraine — which has included bombing several major cities and threats of nuclear war against the country and other western superpowers. This infringes on the 1994 Budapest Memorandum, which requires Russia to respect the sovereignty of Ukraine.
“Russia’s unjustified invasion of Ukraine has already caused so much needless anguish and loss of life — including children,” Sen. Chang said. “We must have international unity and condemnation against the Russian government. We must show our support for all people of Ukraine as they defend their democracy and as many flee their country seeking safety. We must also support Ukrainian Americans in Michigan and their families who are affected by this crisis.”
SR 111 would call on the United Nations and the world community to unite in sanctioning Russia and President Putin. Sanctions against Russia have already had severe economic effects, including an interest rate hike by the Russian central bank from 9.5% to 20% to protect the ruble’s value, which plunged to 30% of the value of a U.S. dollar on Monday, according to NBC News.
“We want to be clear that these condemnations and sanctions are an attack on the Kremlin and the Russian oligarchy, not the people of Russia, some of whom are just passengers in Putin’s megalomaniacal attack on the people of Ukraine,” Sen. Wojno said. “We stand with the people of Ukraine and democracy because any attack on democracy is an attack on all of us. We must work together and unite in this condemnation to send a message that if a government disregards the global order of law, they will be held accountable — and there are consequences for those actions.”
The resolution was unanimously adopted.
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