Key Republican voices from across Capitol Hill — who have been coordinating their messaging on the crisis in Ukraine — have been purposely measured in their criticism of US President Joe Biden in the immediate wake of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, with top GOP lawmakers deliberately critiquing the President's policy decisions as opposed to lobbing personal attacks, according to Republican sources familiar with the situation.
The thinking among key Republicans is that they want to put on a united front and show solidarity with Ukraine, and they don't want to give any more ammunition to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Another reason they are calibrating their responses: Republicans want to send a clear signal to Biden that he would have bipartisan support if he were to move ahead with more punitive measures. While a bipartisan sanctions package stalled on Capitol Hill this month amid divisions over enacting preemptive sanctions, lawmakers are hoping to revive the issue when they return to Capitol Hill next week.
After a conference call with administration briefers on Thursday, one senator told CNN that "there was broad bipartisan agreement" for emergency funding legislation to help shore up the defense capabilities of NATO allies in the Eastern flank and to assist with refugees and humanitarian needs.
Still, Republicans are calling on Biden to enact immediate, stronger sanctions against Russia for its incursion into Ukraine and lamenting that he didn't do more to deter an attack before it occurred — even as they are being careful in how they criticize the President at a critical juncture in US foreign policy.
House Foreign Affairs Committee ranking member Michael McCaul, House Armed Services Committee ranking member Mike Rogers and House Intelligence Committee ranking member Mike Turner said in a joint statement that they were "committed to enacting the strongest possible sanctions and export controls to cripple Russia's ability to make war, punish its barbarity and relegate the Putin regime to the status of an international pariah."
"We cannot respond like we did in 2008 or 2014. The world must never forget or forgive this heinous act," the Republicans said in a statement.
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