DAYTONA BEACH – Marco Rubio, the Republican junior senator from Florida and a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and Select Committee on Intelligence, issued a statement today from Washington regarding the ongoing crisis in Ukraine and condemned Russian influence and corruption that he sees as a hindrance to the sovereign peoples in the former Soviet republic.
“Twenty five years after the people in the then-captive nations of Eastern Europe changed world history, we again see Ukrainians taking to the streets to demand nothing more than the right to independently chart the future course of their nation and a better life for themselves and their children," Rubio said in a statement released this afternoon to Headline surfer® and other media outlets in the Sunshine State.
“Ukrainians have made clear that they want the opportunity to be governed free of corruption and Russian pressure," Rubio said. "I strongly condemn the Yanukovych government resorting to violence rather than dialogue and compromise with the opposition."
Rubio said he urges the Obama Administration to use "every diplomatic means at its disposal, including sanctions, to bring accountability to those involved in acts of violence throughout Ukraine. It’s also imperative that the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and Congress move quickly to approve the Global Human Rights Act, which would strengthen the President’s ability to impose these punishments."
Rubio added, "Ukraine’s future lies in Europe, not Vladimir Putin’s Russia. America stands with those who seek freedom even at great risk to their own security. The world is watching the Yanukovych government’s response.”