30 January 2022. Newsmax: Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo,, on Sunday urged the United States to slap sanctions on Russia before it invades Ukraine.
In an interview on Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures,” Barrasso said the escalating tensions between Russia and Ukraine have to put “into perspective.”
“We need to sanction Russia before an invasion, not after wars,” he asserted.
“Vladimir Putin is like the big, bad wolf,” he said to illustrate the situation, “He is huffing and puffing, and he has the capacity basically to blow Ukraine down. He’s accountable to no one, and he views our president, Joe Biden, as weak and ineffective.”
According to Barrasso, the nation needs to immediately “put in sanctions now so Putin will see just what pain he will suffer if he does invade.”
“And they have to hit him militarily as well as economically,” he said of the sanctions.
Barrasso also said from a military standpoint, “we need to make sure now that Ukraine has all the weapons that they need to defend themselves.”
“We also need to put into place financial issues which will hit Russia now and specifically interfering with their ability to transact international business in dollars,” he urged. “The biggest sledgehammer we have, of course, is energy and the Nord Stream 2 pipeline [between Russia and Germany]. This is the area that Joe Biden has been the weakest because he has already approved that pipeline months ago.”
Barrasso said he also expects a classified briefing Wednesday on the deadly U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan last year — and is urging that it be open.
“There’s a classified briefing for selected senators on the Foreign Policy Committee as well as the Armed Services Committee,” he said.
“Every Republican on those committees has signed a letter saying this should be open,” Barrasso said. “This doesn’t need to be classified. The American people need to know what is happening, we need accountability.”
