Oklahoma Leaders React To Invasion Of Ukraine

Senators, congresspeople, professors, and leaders in Oklahoma have been posting on social media to share their thoughts on the Russia-Ukraine conflict. 

Wednesday night, Senator Jim Inhofe, a ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, called Russia's escalation of their invasion into Ukraine an unprecedented, unwarranted, and unprovoked attack, saying it is in the U.S.'s best interest to respond strongly and provide defensive aid. 

Thursday afternoon, President Biden announced that the United States will be imposing sanctions against Russia. 

Representative Stephanie Bice supported this, telling News 9 she believes it's important we continue to defend our allies. 

“This is a power-hungry move by Putin that really threatens the stability of Europe and the stability of peace around the world," Rep. Bice said. "I am glad that we are finally putting some sanctions into place." 

Others speculated about Russian president Vladimir Putin's reason for the attack in the first place. 

"He wants to restore the Soviet Union to its old dictator communist-style government," Rep Mullin said.  

Putin has stated that he would not allow Ukraine to join NATO, citing fears of nuclear capable missiles being in striking distance of Moscow. He claims the goal of Russian troops is to assist in the ‘demilitarization and denazification’ of Ukraine. 

Representative Tom Cole put out a statement saying it is reminiscent of what the world witnessed almost a century ago in the 1930s, saying, "The world was slow to unite aggression and it must not make the same mistake today." 

Senator James Lankford also weighed in saying he and his wife are praying for the people of Ukraine. 

He also called the Russian leader a murderous dictator. 

“Europe is dependent on Russian oil and natural gas. Sanctions on Russian energy are meaningless unless the world responds by producing more energy to replace Russian oil and gas. During this moment of crisis, the United States should work to dramatically ramp up energy production to strengthen our allies and to cut off the flow of money into Putin’s war machine. Every dollar paid for Russian energy is a dollar they will use to murder their Ukrainian neighbors. America must lead the world by increasing our production of energy to decrease reliance on Russian exports. Russia’s economy is heavily dependent on energy sales, we should make sure that immediately dries up.” 

Rep. Kevin Hern (OK-01) also issued a statement on the Russia Ukraine Situation: 

“There comes a point when sanctions and strongly worded statements lose their power. With a full-scale invasion underway, I believe we are far beyond that point. The United States is not obligated to send troops to the battlefield; regardless, Ukraine isn’t asking for military support. What they need is material support, which Ukraine’s allies around the world are working to provide. Russia has allies too, but Russia’s allies include the world’s worst dictators, terrorists, and thugs. True American leadership projects strength across the globe, which is what we had under President Trump. Thanks to Biden’s cursory attempts at diplomacy, the United States has lost the respect of our foreign adversaries; they don’t fear an American response anymore, because they know it will never come. Biden has failed our allies, but it’s not too late for him to take action to protect Americans from the consequences of his foreign policy failures. Biden must immediately resume construction of the Keystone XL Pipeline. He must reinstate the Trump-era policies that put us on the path to energy independence. Anything less from this White House will cause further hardship on the American people.”