Is This How World Wars Start?

It is just as we warned you – a Russian invasion of Ukraine is starting to evolve. Russia has cleared out its embassies in Ukraine. Secretary of State Antony Blinken was immediately dispatched to Kyiv yesterday to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. The question is, are there any realistic repercussions for Russia’s actions? All of Europe is dependent on the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, which Russia controls. Are European powers willing to put their countries at risk over Ukraine?

ACLJ Senior Military Analyst Wes Smith gave his thoughts:

"One of the things President Trump did during his Administration was, he put sanctions on the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, and he started the process of selling massive shipments of liquified natural gas from the United States to Europe, so that they would not have to depend on this pipeline. And all of that - just in the last 12 months - has gone to the wayside and it’s a real crisis situation."

Additionally, seven members of the United States Senate, four Democrats and three Republicans, went to Ukraine to meet with President Zelensky to restate their support for sanctions on Russia, if Russia does go through with an invasion.

Following the meeting, Rep. Shaheen, chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on Europe tweeted:

"I had a productive meeting with President Zelensky today and made clear that the U.S. is united across party lines in support of Ukraine against Putin’s belligerence. Putin will not be allowed to target our Eastern European partners and allies without consequences."

ACLJ Senior Advisor for National Security and Foreign Policy and former Acting Director of National Intelligence Ric Grenell gave his take on what is going on here:

"Let’s start with why does it matter if you’re sitting in the United States listening to us? It really matters to your safety. The credibility of the United States if it goes down can create instability around the world, and certainly our troops overseas and our allies, and even potentially here at home. We could be increasing the danger and certainly the threat, and we have already seen the problems of an open border. So, if you combine the fact that we have an open border with the fact that we are perceived as weak, and our enemies are trying to take advantage of that weakness by moving into areas that would cause us to be less safe. I think that’s a recipe for disaster."

Ric added:

"The good news is . . . we have bipartisan Senators . . . in Ukraine sending a very strong message. That is a fantastic message of unity. Now, will it be enough to overcome the weak diplomacy of the Biden Administration? We see Biden as weak and so does the world. Certainly, so does Putin. I fear with the change of government in Germany and the Europeans looking for some sort of consensus together that the Biden team is sending a very strong message of weakness."

Secretary Blinken explained what the United States will do if Russia invades Ukraine:

"The U.S. is planning things we have not done in the past."

ACLJ Senior Counsel for Global Affairs Mike Pompeo gave his insight on Sec. Blinken’s threat:

"The threat is very real, the challenge is very serious. Vladimir Putin does not have any concerns that President Biden will do something that will impose real costs on them. . . . So yes, this threat is very real. . . . I am glad to see Secretary Blinken is going there to support the Ukrainian people, that’s the right approach. . . . We should . . . make clear that violating Ukrainian sovereignty is unacceptable– that it is something we will not stand for. And when he says we will do things we have not done before, I don’t know what he’s speaking about, but it is possible that there are sanctions beyond those put in place during the Trump Administration that they would be prepared to do, including disconnecting Russia from what is called SWIFT, it’s really the global economic system, the global cash transfer payment system. This would be a significant sanction and I think Putin would have to think twice about taking action if he believed that the Biden Administration had credibility with respect to that. I hope Blinken can convey the seriousness with which they are taking this."

Sec. Pompeo summed up what the risk factor could be with this situation if this is not handled correctly:

"The risk factor is that over some period of time we will lose our capacity to be that defender of freedom, and when we lose that, the risk is that we will lose our freedom at home as well."

Today’s full Sekulow broadcast is complete with even more analysis of a potential Russian invasion into Ukraine.