On Thursday, Ukraine woke up to air raid sirens signaling the start of a Russian invasion. Even as war broke out between countries of Russia and Ukraine, former Hawaii Democratic Representative Tulsi Gabbard called the whole conflict avoidable.
She said that NATO and Biden administration should have agreed to Russia’s demands to avoid the conflict. Calling Russia security concerns regarding Ukraine legitimate, Gabbard accused the Biden administration of just trying to distract from their domestic failures by ‘supposedly’ trying to protect a ‘democracy.’
Gabbard’s tweet came shortly after Russian President Vladimir Putin declared a ‘special military operation’ in Ukraine early Thursday morning. Videos and photos surfaced on social media, allegedly showing the reality of the war in Europe.
At sunrise, sirens sounded near Kyiv as Ukraine’s president declared martial law across the country.
Prior to the Russia’s invasion, Putin voiced several grievances against Ukraine and the United States, including the possibility of Ukraine joining NATO, which the United States did not remove from the table despite the request for Russia to do so.
Tulsi Gabbard, who has moved towards the right since running for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2020, said on Sean Hannity’s Fox News show Monday that Putin’s reaction is a natural response to a potential NATO threat along Russia’s borders, telling Hannity:
“Putin has made clear all along that their security, in his mind, is what’s at stake here.”
Gabbard’s tweet has been retweeted over 10,000 times and liked over 30,000 times but has also been pushed back heavily on Twitter.
“I’ve seen this argument below in various places, and it’s just not true,”
Republican Senator Marco Rubio replied.
A promise that #Ukraine would never join NATO was not Putin’s only demand. Just last week, he again called on NATO to leave all countries that joined after 1997, including Bulgaria, Romania, and 12 others.
President Biden condemned Russian President Vladimir Putin after the country carried out military operations in Ukraine.
“The world will hold Russia accountable,” Biden said in a pair of tweets on Wednesday, moments after Russia carried out the military action.
“President Putin’s actions demand a strong response. This is why we are imposing full blocking sanctions on the VEB and the Russian Military Bank, cutting off Russia from Western funding, imposing sanctions on elites, and more,”
Biden added in another tweet.
“We will continue to escalate sanctions if Russia steps up.”
Meanwhile, President Vladimir Putin has issued a stern warning to the world leaders that any opposition or attempts to impede Moscow’s actions
“let alone create threats for our country” would lead to consequences “never seen in history.”
In a statement issued after a call with Ukrainian Prime Minister Zelenskyy, Biden said:
“I condemned this unprovoked and unjustified attack by Russian military forces.
I briefed him on the steps we are taking to rally international condemnation … Tomorrow, I will be meeting with the Leaders of the G7, and the United States and our Allies and partners will be imposing severe sanctions on Russia.”
Edited By- subbuthai padma
Published By- Satheesh Kumar
