Press Release

The Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party’s Veterans Caucus released the following statement regarding events in Ukraine as of February 23, 2022:

Russia has undeniably moved against Ukraine by declaring independent states within the Donbas region. The DFL Veterans Caucus continues to monitor the precarious situation in Ukraine carefully and with concern. We support the Administration’s close coordination with our NATO Allies, partners in Europe, and countries around the world in attempts to deescalate Russia’s blatant aggression against a sovereign nation. We support the first tranche of sanctions to impose costs on Russia in response to their actions this past week and we encourage additional tough sanctions if Russia continues to escalate the situation.

We further fully support the Commander in Chief’s additional deployment of U.S. forces and equipment already stationed in Europe to strengthen our Baltic Allies — Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, as defensive moves in support of Article 5 of NATO. President Biden is correct to point out that we have no intention of fighting Russia, but believe it is important to send an unmistakable message that the United States, together with our Allies, will defend every inch of NATO territory and abide by the commitments we made to NATO.

Russia’s actions are a provocation and assault on sovereign Ukrainian territory and this so-called naming of independent republics is a clear violation of international law. Only Ukraine and Ukrainian citizens have the right to determine their fate.

The Veterans Caucus hopes Russian leadership will cease their aggression and avert war. As veterans, we understand the cost of war and hope the worst-case scenario can be avoided.

We fully support our Troops deployed throughout Europe and worldwide, and applaud the Minnesota Congressional Delegation, including Senator Amy Klobuchar and Representative Betty McCollum, who worked tirelessly at the Munich Security Conference to find solutions to this challenging and dangerous situation.