'Will he stop in Ukraine?' Durbin says U.S., allies must be ready for Putin's next step
For U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, the question the United States and world need to answer after Russia's invasion of Ukraine is this: What's next for President Vladimir Putin?
"We know this isn't just a matter of concern about Ukraine and the innocent people there who are the victims of Putin's aggression," Durbin said Thursday during a virtual media briefing that followed his return from the Munich Security Conference, with stops in Poland and Lithuania. "The question now is, will he stop in Ukraine? We sincerely hope he'll stop as soon as possible, but we have to get ready.
"That means we have to put our troops into NATO ally countries that are most vulnerable," such as Poland, Lithuania and other Baltic states, Durbin said.
The senator said he lunched with soldiers from Illinois during his trip.
"These were active military soldiers who were sent into Lithuania to prepare their troops for possible battle. We're not anticipating that this is going to happen immediately, but we've got to be ready because we're not sure where Putin will move next," said the Springfield Democrat, who co-chairs the Senate Ukraine Caucus and whose mother is from Lithuania.
The other senator and the congressmen from Illinois joined in bipartisan condemnation of Russia's assault on Ukraine.
Sen. Tammy Duckworth, a veteran wounded in 2004 while serving in the Iraq War, said in a statement that "the human suffering caused - and any blood spilled - as a result of this unjustified and unjustifiable attack on Ukraine's sovereign territory are solely on Vladimir Putin's hands.
"Putin's unprovoked and inexcusable escalation of this violent invasion will succeed in only one thing: uniting the free world against Russia's autocratic regime in support of Ukraine's territorial sovereignty, its people and its right to self-governance," the Hoffman Estates Democrat said.
U.S. Rep. Adam Kinzinger, a Channahon Republican and a veteran of the Afghanistan and Iraq wars, said in a tweet, "From poisoning countless political opponents and his assassination of (opposition leader Boris) Nemtsov, to the brutal airstrikes murdering thousands of Syrian citizens, we have seen who Putin is and the impunity of his barbaric attacks on the world."
Republican U.S. Rep. Darin LaHood of Dunlap, near Peoria, condemned Putin's actions in a statement. "The world is witness again to the true evil of Putin, who alone has chosen a path of bloodshed in Ukraine.
"America and the free world must stand with Ukraine by enacting the strongest possible economic sanctions, crippling Russia's ability to make war, and punishing Putin's regime and his oligarchs on the international stage."
U.S. Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, a Schaumburg Democrat and House Intelligence Committee member, said the U.S. "must join with democracies across the world to dramatically expand sanctions on Russia to hold its leaders accountable for the needless destruction and suffering they will cause, while also coordinating with our NATO allies to stand firm in the face of any attack on our alliance."
U.S. Rep. Bill Foster said in a statement that "the Russian military's unjustified invasion of Ukraine is a destabilizing threat to Europe and the entire international order.
"Although we have no treaty-level obligation to defend Ukraine, we have a special moral duty to assist Ukraine because of its decision to give up its nuclear weapons at the end of the Cold War, in return for international assurances of its territorial integrity," the Naperville Democrat said.
Democratic U.S. Rep. Brad Schneider of Deerfield said in a statement, "We see Vladimir Putin for what he is: a warmongering, dictatorial tyrant who seeks a permanent conflict with the West and restoration of Russian rule over the former Soviet empire.
"Putin is counting on the unity of the international community to fracture and wane in short order. We must ensure that his confidence is misplaced and that his intentions are thwarted," said Schneider, a House Foreign Affairs Committee member.
Late on Wednesday, U.S. Rep. Mike Quigley, co-chair of the Congressional Ukraine Caucus, said, "Russia's unprovoked attack on Ukraine begins a war of choice entirely of President Putin's making, despite months of intense diplomacy. The price that Ukrainians will pay for that choice is unfathomable.
"As these events unfold, my message to the Ukrainian people is simple: We stand with you."