This interview is from SDPB's daily public-affairs show, In the Moment, hosted by Lori Walsh.
Military attacks continue on Ukraine by neighboring Russia. Yesterday (Thursday), The U.S. House passed a bill to put further strain on the country’s economy. This bill will suspend normal trade relations with Russia.
The Senate is working on a bill that would revoke permanent trade relations.
Mike Rounds is a South Dakota U.S. Senator.
“Anything that we can do to further restrict Russia’s ability to either access their assets or anything we can do to restrict their ability to sell assets, to sell their products and so forth, anywhere in the world, we’re interested in doing, “said Rounds.”
The U.S. and European allies continue attempts to block Russia’s economic ability to wage war. The U.S. maintains no American troops will enter the Ukrainian war zone.
Interview ranscript
The following transcript is auto-generated and has not yet been edited.
Lori Walsh:
And I'm Lori Walsh. The U.S. Congress is seeking ways to further pressure Russia to end the military invasion of Ukraine, including the removal of most favored nation status for Russia and Belarus. Congress is also looking for ways to block those close to Russian president Vladimir Putin from transferring assets via cyber security platforms. Meanwhile, Russian forces have met with stiff resistance from the Ukrainian military, but bombing has moved dangerously close to the Ukrainian border with Poland. Poland is, of course, a NATO ally. President Putin has long been critical of airpower staged in Poland. Will he justify an attack on military targets outside the border of Ukraine? South Dakota U.S. Senator Mike Rounds is with us now for an update. Senator Rounds, thanks for being here.
Sen. Mike Rounds:
Thank you. Appreciate the opportunity to visit with you.
Lori Walsh:
Let's start if you don't mind, with a little bit about this trade relations status and the further economic pressures on Russia. Where are we at in the U.S. Senate with moving that forward?
Sen. Mike Rounds:
I think you'll find very broad bipartisan support for further restrictions on our relations with Russia that allow them to trade. We will also be pushing, or at least we will be conferring with and joining our European allies in this effort. In some ways, our European allies have been ahead of us, and we have followed them. Just as an example, with regard to the Swift system, which is basically a way of communicating back and forth with regards to financial transactions, it was really the Europeans who stepped forward and said, "We're going to go farther." And we followed that, which was a good thing.
Sen. Mike Rounds:
But with regard to other activity, anything that we can do to further restrict Russia's ability to either access their assets that are outside of their country or anything that we can do to restrict their ability to sell assets, to sell their products and so forth anywhere in the world, we're interested in doing. We want to stop the flow of cash into Russia so that Vladimir Putin does not have the resources to fund his war efforts and make it more difficult for him to pay his debts.
Sen. Mike Rounds:
This is not designed... I mean, it's unfortunate that this also has to hit the Russian people, but it will. And hopefully, there will be more questions asked there about why it is that the rest of the world is now focused on trying to punish them and restrict their ability to trade, restrict their ability to do business, restrict their ability to get products into Russia.
Lori Walsh:
Let's also talk about the military actions and how close they are getting to the border with Poland as Russia begins attacking more Western Ukrainian targets. How concerned are you about how close Russia is getting to our NATO ally?
Sen. Mike Rounds:
They've been within about 12 miles of the Polish border. They attacked an airport or basically an army base. Their intent, I believe, was to signal that they were going to disrupt the supplies that were coming in from Poland. There are multiple approaches that can be taken to get the supplies in, but they're basically coming in by land. Poland is one of those gateways in which, because of the regular commerce, the regular capability to send those supplies across, a lot of the supplies, military supplies, are coming in, but also equipment, food, items for individuals, healthcare, medical services, and so forth. Those types of equipment and supplies are also coming in that way. We're always concerned with the escalation that could occur if Russia were to attack a NATO member and Poland is a NATO member.
Sen. Mike Rounds:
We've also recognized that those supplies that are military in nature would be at risk if Russia had the capability of finding them, targeting them, and taking them out. So, that part does not surprise us that they were attempting to do that. But most certainly, their inability to be very accurate in their aiming is really under question right now.
Sen. Mike Rounds:
I mean, they haven't shown the ability or the desire to use precision weapons in a lot of the stuff they've done, maybe because they're kind of running out or they're trying to save them. So they've been using a lot of weapons that basically are not high in technology. You call them dumb bombs or dumb artillery shells that they're basically using in attacking civilian centers, and they're not real accurate. It's entirely possible that some of their more accurate munitions, which are more technologically advanced, may not be working as well as they would like them to work, as well.
Lori Walsh:
Well, much more on this in the days ahead. U.S. Senator Mike Rounds, we thank you for making time for us today. I know you have a busy schedule. We'll talk to you next time.
Sen. Mike Rounds:
Thank you. Appreciate the opportunity.
