Lawmakers from both sides of the aisle are pressuring U.S. President Donald Trump to take a tougher line on Moscow after an incident at sea between
, which is ratcheting tensions between the two neighbors.
Several lawmakers expressed concerns after the Ukrainian navy
Russian ships fired on and seized three of its artillery ships Sunday, wounding six Ukrainian crew members. Russia also closed the Kerch Strait, a key waterway between the Azov Sea and Black Sea, placing the two countries the closest they’ve been to open conflict since Moscow annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014.
The incident suggests U.S. and European actions have failed to deter Russian aggression and raised the question whether Trump will attempt to rally allies.
As the conflict unfolded on Sunday, Trump hit European partners with a Twitter attack over NATO burden-sharing: “The European Union, for many years, has taken advantage of us on Trade, and then they don’t live up to their Military commitment through NATO. Things must change fast!"
Though several world leaders have blamed Russian aggression in the incident, Trump seemed reluctant to do so Monday when reporters asked how he felt about the clash. Trump said, “not good. Not happy about it at all,” adding, “we do not like what’s happening either way. And hopefully it will get straightened out.”
On Monday, the House Foreign Affairs Committee’s ranking member, Rep. Eliot Engel, D-N.Y., said Trump was sending the wrong message, that NATO is divided and unwilling to react, just as Russian President Vladimir Putin is testing its resolve.
Engel, likely to become the committee chairman when the House comes under Democratic control in January, called for a unified and forceful response from the U.S. and its allies, short of war.
“We have to work with our allies in the NATO alliance, and what bothers me is President Trump has trashed the NATO alliance,” Engel told Defense News on Monday. “It’s very difficult when you have the president cozying up to Putin once again, not having a very strong response so far — letting Putin think there will be a lot of handwringing and talk, but not a lot of action.”
“I think it was pretty poor taste and timing for the president to issue a statement about burden-sharing at a time when Russian expansion is full blown,” Engel added. “That sends a message to Russia that we’re thrashing our allies and not going to be willing to work in tandem with them and the NATO alliance.”
Engel also repeated his support for sending Ukraine defensive weaponry, which could make Putin reconsider engaging in aggression.
“If Putin starts seeing Russian soldier fatalities, that changes his equation,” Engel said.
Spain and Germany on Monday joined European Union calls on Russia to release Ukrainian sailors and ships, while U.S. Ambassador Nikki Haley — during a United Nations Security Council meeting Monday — called on Russia to “immediately cease its unlawful conduct” in the Black Sea.
Russia, meanwhile, called Ukraine’s actions “dangerous” and said the three Ukrainian vessels illegally crossed into Russian waters.
Senate Armed Services Committee chairman Jim Inhofe, R-Okla., threatened new sanctions on Russia, and called for a coordinated response between the U.S. and its European allies.
“If Putin continues his Black Sea bullying, the United States and Europe must consider imposing additional sanctions on Russia, inserting a greater U.S. and NATO presence in the Black Sea region and increasing military assistance for Ukraine, as called for in the [2018 defense policy law],” Inhofe said in a statement Monday.
Congress authorized the government to provide Ukraine with air defense and coastal defense radars, naval mine and countermine capabilities, and littoral-zone and coastal defense vessels as part of the 2018 defense policy bill.
That legislation was a response to Ukraine losing two-thirds of its naval fleet, which mostly was based in Sevastopol when Russia annexed Crimea.
Ukraine has approximately 71 combat aircraft — older Su-27s and MiG-29s, according to the “Military Balance 2018” of the International Institute for Strategic Studies — and no modern air defense system it might have used to contest Russian actions over the Kerch strait. Its navy is less equipped — one frigate, 10 other surface combatants — and in no shape to challenge Russian dominance of Kerch.
“A new Russian use of force may not compel Trump to respond, but it could energize Congressional efforts to outflank him with additional Russian sanctions,” Byron Callan, a defense sector analyst for Capital Alpha Partners, said in a note to investors. “There is not much time left in the lame duck session of Congress, but these efforts could gain new life in January-February.”
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