Schumer and McConnell promise to support Ukraine against 'illegal Russian invasion'

Prominent senators from both parties released a joint statement Tuesday expressing support for Ukraine and threatening Russia with severe consequences in the event of an invasion, CNN reported.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) both joined in the statement, as did Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Minority Whip John Thune (R-S.D.), and Sens. Jack Reed (D-R.I.), Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.), Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Pat Toomey (R-Penn.), Robert Menendez (D-N.J.), Jim Risch (R-Idaho), Mark Warner (D-Va.), and Marco Rubio (R-Fla.).

"In this dark hour, we are sending a bipartisan message of solidarity and resolve to the people of Ukraine, and an equally clear warning to [Russian President] Vladimir Putin and the Kremlin," the statement read.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

It went on to urge the U.S. and NATO to "move quickly to ensure that the government of Ukraine receives sustained emergency assistance to defend against an illegal Russian invasion," which the statement described as the gravest threat the post-World War II international order has faced since the Cold War.

Despite this bipartisan show of support, the GOP remains divided on Ukraine. Establishment Republicans push for a hard line against Russia, while libertarians like Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) and populists like Fox News host Tucker Carlson and Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) insist America has no dog in the fight.

President Biden said Tuesday that, despite Russia's announcement that it was pulling some troops off the Ukrainian border, an invasion "is still very much a possibility," USA Today reported.