WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Ben Cardin (D-Md.), a senior member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and Chairman of the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, released the following statement in response to President Joe Biden’s remarks to the American people regarding Russia and Ukraine.

“President Biden just delivered a forceful and decisive address to the nation and the world. He made clear the American commitment to ‘defend every inch of NATO territory with the full force of American power.’ At the same time, the president made equally clear that neither NATO nor the U.S. – nor Ukraine – poses a danger to Russia. Russia can still choose to return more fully to a diplomatic discussion of their concerns. The president also made clear that neither the NATO nor the U.S. – nor Ukraine – will be intimidated by Russian threats. The U.S. Congress stands united with President Biden in a bipartisan manner against Russian aggression.

“I appreciated that President Biden also was straight with the American people that if Russia chooses to wage war in Ukraine, there may be economic reverberations at home and around the world, but we are prepared to mitigate such impact. I agree that the long-term damage from allowing Russia to invade its neighbor would be far greater.”

###