Kaptur Response To Vance And Rubio Statements On United States Abandoning Peace Talks Unless Ukraine Capitulates
"Please let me remind the US Vice President and Secretary of State — Freedom means never Surrender, and Liberty must never capitulate to Dictatorship. America does not live alone on this Earth. Our nation lives in a Free World alliance that is tested every day.
"Our leaders cannot turn America’s back to the murderous forces from Russia illegally bearing down on Ukraine. History is clear: Russian dictators if given an inch have always invaded further into territory that is not theirs. The facts speak for themselves — just ask Georgia, Poland, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. Russia now taunts our nation’s closest military Allies on the European continent. We honor them and our collective memory of the historic sacrifice and bloodshed that built the Free World bequeathed to us.
"The Trump Administration proposes that the US abandon our European Allies. With them, our nation intergenerationally has painstakingly built NATO — a global fortress of democratic nations. Across Europe from the ruins of World Wars I and II lie the precious graves of 411,516 American soldiers. These heroes and heroines fought for the cause of Liberty and a world order that enshrines it, and our joint commitment to defend it above all else. This moment for Ukraine is a crucial test of our common purpose — freedom or subjugation?
"No succor can be allowed to a murderous dictatorship. No matter how many of Russia’s rich oligarchs seek to plunder and steal from the sacred soils and minerals of Ukraine, the Free West must stand united and say 'No!' Freedom lovers must not ignore history and allow Putin’s illegal invasion of Crimea and other stolen territories in Ukraine.
"No stolen territory should be ceded to Putin. Spanning 11 time zones, Russia holds enough territory. Putin has no need for Ukraine, which is among the poorest nations in Europe. His plunder seeks to reconstitute the vanquished Soviet dictatorship as he longs for more that is not his. Putin now issues an ultimatum: unless Ukraine agrees to surrender territory Russia ruthlessly and illegally invaded and seized there will be no peace deal.
"The United States as leader of the Free world must never ever genuflect to tyrants. Aggressor Putin wants the United States to walk away from the negotiating table according to the terms the U.S. Vice President and Secretary of State laid out today. Those terms include ceding Ukraine’s territory to Russia.
"Russia is losing the war it started without provocation in 2014. It is losing a war that Putin started and escalated in bloody fashion when he initiated a full-scale invasion in 2022. Sadly, at every step of the way, the Trump Administration has conceded to Putin's demands without Ukraine‘s consent. Russia does not recognize international agreements. It never has.
"During World War II, it reneged on the Ribbentrop-Molotov agreement. Following World War II, Russia broke its commitments, made at the Yalta conference with its conquest of Poland. Russia signed the Budapest Memorandum to guarantee Ukrainian security and yet it invaded Ukraine. Putin even violated the cease-fire on targeting energy and civilian infrastructure targets negotiated by the Trump administration just weeks ago. Vladimir Putin and Russia, simply cannot be trusted.
"Why would the Vice President, Secretary of State or any world leader believe that communist dictator Vladimir Putin and the Russian regime will hold to a peace agreement? They never have.
"The only way to force Russia to abide by such agreement is to include strong security guarantees for Ukraine, to ensure Russia will remain in its own borders or face, serious, global sanctions, and consequence so severe they would collapse the Russian economy. Short of that, with the Vice President’s and Secretary of State’s abdication, Ukraine has everything to lose and Russia has everything to gain. The White House isn’t leading a legitimate peace process. It is enabling the globally aggressive reach of the most lethal Dictatorship in Europe."