Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) on Thursday called on President Obama to work at the current NATO summit in Wales to hammer out new economic sanctions against Russia.
“As the United States gathers with our allies, we must address Russia’s illegal disregard for international norms and agreements and reaffirm our support of Ukrainian independence and territorial integrity,” Shaheen, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations and Armed Services committees, said in a statement.
{mosads}She said Moscow’s military actions in Eastern Ukraine are “an affront to the basic principles of sovereignty that have underpinned security in Europe and around the world for decades and require a strong international response” from Western countries.
The U.S. “must lead this effort,” she said, urging Obama to use the summit to dispense “new and increased sanctions on full sectors of the Russian economy, including the energy and financial sectors, to send the clear message to Moscow that its military intervention and bullying inside Ukraine will not be tolerated.”
Shaheen, who is running for reelection against Republican Scott Brown, has sought to distance herself recently from some of Obama’s policies.
Obama met with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and other European leaders Thursday morning on the periphery of the summit to work out how to respond to Russia’s latest actions in the former Soviet satellite state.
The U.S. and the European Union are reportedly prepping a fresh round of sanctions against the Kremlin.