PORTSMOUTH, Va. (WAVY) — U.S. Senator Mark Warner, the chairman of the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence is coming to Hampton Roads on Thursday, after Russian forces launched a “full-scale” assault on Ukraine.
Warner released a statement Wednesday night following’s Putin’s decision to attack.
“For more than 70 years, we have avoided large-scale war in Europe,” Warner’s statement read in part. “With his illegal invasion of Ukraine, Vladimir Putin has tragically brought decades of general peace to an end. Now the U.S. and our NATO allies must stand united and resolute against Putin’s efforts to renew the Russian empire at the expense of the Ukrainian people.”
Warner said it was time to “up the pain level for the Russian government after President Biden’s initial wave of sanctions and “bolster the defenses of our NATO allies while exploring how we can further help the Ukrainian people in their time of need.”
Warner added: ““While there is still an opportunity for Russia to reverse course, we can no longer hold out hope that this standoff will be resolved peacefully. Therefore, we must all, on both sides of the aisle and both sides of the Atlantic, work together to demonstrate to Putin that this aggression will not be allowed to go unpunished.”
In Hampton Roads on Thursday, Warner will join NASA Administrator Bill Nelson and others at NASA Langley Research Center to talk research and technology dealing with spaceflight and climate change.
He’ll also meet with Michael Connor, Assistant Secretary of the Army (ASA) for Civil Works, in Portsmouth to talk about how $69 million in funding from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act will be used to improve the Port of Virginia, and go on a coastal resilience tour of the City of Norfolk’s Coastal Storm Risk Management Project.
WAVY’s Kara Dixon will have more on Warner’s visit later today.
