US Republican Senate members introduce law to help Ukraine amid probable Russian invasion

Amid the probability of Russian ‘invasion’, the Republican members of the United States Senate have proposed legislation that would impose penalties on Moscow and would assist Kyiv in the case of an attack on Ukraine, as per a copy of the legislation issued on Tuesday. Senate Foreign Relations Committee Republicans stated in a press release that the US Senator Jim Risch (R-Idaho), who is a ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, led a majority of his Republican colleagues in having to introduce the Never Yielding Europe's Territory (NYET) Act.  

This NYET Act would provide Ukraine with the significant support it requires to defend and protect itself and would deter "Russian aggression" while enforcing "real costs on the Kremlin for its ongoing and potential future aggression against Ukraine," as per the press release. Furthermore, the law will indeed impose costs on Russia, such as bank sanctions as well as a halt in the construction of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, and will provide assistance to Ukraine with nearly $500 million in foreign military financing. The legislation has counter accused "malign" Russian influence by increasing funding for counter-disinformation attempts, citing the press release, Sputnik reported.  

The legislation would provide emergency financing to Ukraine

In addition to this, the legislation would also provide emergency financing of $250 million, with $100 million for lethal aid for essential capabilities such as air defence, anti-armour, and anti-ship capabilities to Ukraine. It would also encourage Congress to conduct a review of Ukraine's arms sales as well as security assistance, as per a press release from US Senate Shelley Moore Capito’s government.  

While, on the other hand, the legislation would also impose secondary penalties on institutions that continue to do business with sanctioned Russian banks, the press release further stated.  

Meanwhile, Senator Bob Menendez who leads the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, condemned the action as "partisan posturing," insisting that it was still possible for Democrats and Republicans to make a "diplomatic breakthrough" on a bipartisan sanctions package, as per Sputnik. Whereas, according to White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki, bipartisan collaboration on a sanctions package to apply on Russia in the case of an invasion of Ukraine is the best way to move the project ahead. 

It is worth mentioning that the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline is a Russian-managed project that would deliver Russian gas over the Baltic Sea, rather than via Poland and Ukraine, to Germany and parts of Western Europe. The initiative had previously been approved by the Biden Administration, which took into consideration the project's ties to Germany, a key NATO ally. Meanwhile, according to media reports, suspicions in the west have increased that the Putin government would have too much influence over European gas supplies as a result of this strategy. 

(Image: AP)