McConnell to Biden: Ratchet the sanctions against Russia all the way up

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said Thursday that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s “yearning for empire” and a perception of American weakness led to the crisis in Ukraine and urged President Biden not to hold back in the next round of economic sanctions against Moscow.

The Kentucky Republican said that, despite his differences with the administration, “we need to be together” at this perilous moment in Eastern Europe.

“But I have some advice — ratchet the sanctions all the way up. Don’t hold anything back. Every single available tough sanction should be deployed, and should be deployed now,” Mr. McConnell said in Louisville, Kentucky, with the Senate in recess. “There’s no such thing as a little invasion.”

Mr. McConnell spoke shortly before Mr. Biden addressed the crisis in a national address. The president earlier Thursday met with Group of Seven leaders who agreed on “devastating packages” of sanctions against Russia for its assault, which appears aimed at overthrowing Kyiv’s pro-Western leadership.

The Republican Senate leader said he thinks Mr. Putin was emboldened by the chaotic U.S. military exit from Afghanistan last year.

“This is a serious, serious incident,” Mr. McConnell said. “I think the precipitous withdrawal from Afghanistan in August was a signal to Putin and maybe to Chinese [President Xi Jinping] as well that America was in retreat, that America could not be depended upon — and was an invitation to autocrats in the world that maybe this was a good time to make a move.”