House Republicans are calling for President Biden to outline a stronger response to Russia’s threat of using nuclear weapons in Ukraine.
In a letter to Biden sent Friday, the lawmakers say “every tool of national power should be leveraged to achieve deterrence of Russian nuclear aggression.”
“The U.S. cannot be a passive spectator as Russia uses nuclear intimidation,” reads the letter from Reps. Mike Rogers (R-Ala.), Mike Turner (R-Ohio) and Michael McCaul (R-Texas). “If Russia uses nuclear weapons in Ukraine, the U.S. must act. This must be clear to Russia to deter their use of nuclear weapons in this unprovoked war of aggression against Ukraine.”
Russia has repeatedly floated the possibility of using nuclear weapons during its invasion of Ukraine, which has gone on for over three months.
The lawmakers specifically pointed to Russian President Vladimir Putin, who in announcing the invasion threatened “those who stand in our way,” saying the “consequences will be such as you have never seen in your entire history.”
The letter also pointed to Aleksey Zhuravlyov, who is the deputy chair of the Russian Duma’s defense committee, who said in part “If the United States threatens our state, it’s good: Here is the Sarmat for you, and there will be nuclear ashes from you if you think that Russia should not exist. “
Biden and his officials have criticized Moscow’s rhetoric over nuclear weapons, but have also been mum on what the U.S. would do if Russia were to use nuclear weapons.
In an op-ed for The New York Times published May 31, Biden said the U.S. sees “no indication” that the Kremlin plans to use nuclear weapons in Ukraine, but blasted its rhetoric as irresponsible.
“Let me be clear: Any use of nuclear weapons in this conflict on any scale would be completely unacceptable to us as well as the rest of the world and would entail severe consequences,” the president’s op-ed read.
In their letter, Rogers, Turner and McCaul ask Biden to clarify the U.S.’s policy on Russia using nuclear weapons in Europe and to “clearly communicate such policy to the Russian government.”
“Every tool of national power should be leveraged to achieve deterrence of Russian nuclear aggression,” reads the letter. “We must reinforce our extended deterrence commitments regarding our nuclear umbrella upon which our European allies have relied for decades.”
The Hill has reached out to the White House for comment.