[Pages S590-S591]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

SENATE RESOLUTION 27--CALLING FOR A PROMPT MULTINATIONAL FREEDOM OF
NAVIGATION OPERATION IN THE BLACK SEA AND URGING THE CANCELLATION OF
THE NORD STREAM 2 PIPELINE

Mr. JOHNSON (for himself, Mr. Durbin, Mr. Risch, Mr. Menendez, Mr.

[[Page S591]]

Inhofe, Mr. Reed, Mrs. Shaheen, Mr. Barrasso, Mr. Murphy, Ms. Baldwin,
Mrs. Blackburn, Mr. Blumenthal, Mr. Blunt, Mr. Boozman, Mr. Braun, Mr.
Cardin, Mr. Carper, Mr. Casey, Ms. Collins, Mr. Coons, Mr. Cornyn, Mr.
Cotton, Mr. Cramer, Mr. Crapo, Mr. Cruz, Mr. Daines, Ms. Duckworth, Mr.
Enzi, Mrs. Fischer, Mr. Gardner, Mr. Graham, Mr. Grassley, Ms. Hassan,
Ms. Hirono, Mr. Hoeven, Mrs. Hyde-Smith, Mr. Jones, Mr. Kaine, Mr.
Kennedy, Ms. Klobuchar, Mr. Lankford, Mr. Merkley, Mr. Moran, Mr.
Peters, Mr. Portman, Mr. Roberts, Mr. Romney, Mr. Rounds, Mr. Rubio,
Mr. Sasse, Mr. Schatz, Ms. Smith, Ms. Stabenow, Mr. Thune, Mr. Tillis,
Mr. Toomey, Mr. Van Hollen, Mr. Whitehouse, Mr. Wicker, Mr. Wyden, Mr.
Young, Mr. Manchin, Mrs. Capito, Mr. Perdue, Mr. Isakson, and Ms.
Murkowski) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to
the Committee on Foreign Relations:
Whereas, in late February 2014, the Russian Federation
invaded and illegally occupied Ukraine's Crimean peninsula,
in full contravention of the United Nations Charter and the
Helsinki Final Act, which condemn the threat or use of force
as means of altering international borders;
Whereas the Russian Federation's attempted illegal
annexation of Crimea is also a direct violation of its
pledges as a signatory to the 1994 Budapest Memorandum on
Security Assurances to respect Ukraine's sovereignty and
existing borders and to refrain from the threat or use of
force against Ukraine;
Whereas the inclusion of the United States and the United
Kingdom as signatories to the Budapest Memorandum was
essential in order to provide Ukraine the security assurances
needed to give up its nuclear arsenal;
Whereas, on November 25, 2018, military forces of the
Russian Federation attacked and seized three Ukrainian Navy
vessels and their crews as they attempted to transit the
Kerch Strait between the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov;
Whereas the Government of the Russian Federation still has
not released the Ukrainian crew members or returned the
Ukrainian ships that were seized illegally;
Whereas European Commissioner Julian King stated that the
Government of the Russian Federation launched a
disinformation campaign over a year ago designed to paint
Ukraine and NATO as provocateurs in the Kerch Strait;
Whereas, as part of the Russian Federation disinformation
campaign, Russian state media outlets spread demonstrable
falsehoods, including claims that Ukraine was dredging the
Kerch Strait seabed to facilitate the stationing of a NATO
fleet, that Ukraine had intentionally infected the sea with
cholera, and that Ukrainian and British clandestine services
were conspiring to destroy the Kerch Strait bridge with a
nuclear weapon;
Whereas the United States has important national interests
in the Black Sea region, including the security of three NATO
littoral states, the promotion of European energy market
diversification by ensuring unfettered European access to
energy exporters in the Caucuses and central Asia, and
combating use of the region by smugglers as a conduit for
trafficking in persons, narcotics, and arms;
Whereas the Nord Stream 2 pipeline is a proposed underwater
natural gas pipeline project that would provide an additional
55,000,000,000 cubic meters of pipeline capacity from the
Russian Federation to the Federal Republic of Germany through
the Baltic Sea;
Whereas the Russian Federation's state-owned oil and gas
company, Gazprom, is the sole shareholder of the Nord Stream
2 project;
Whereas, in 2017, there was spare capacity of approximately
55,000,000,000 cubic meters in the Ukrainian gas transit
system;
Whereas Gazprom cut off natural gas exports to Europe via
Ukraine in 2006, and again in 2009, over supply and pricing
disputes with Ukraine's state-owned oil and gas company,
Naftogaz;
Whereas transit of Russian natural gas to Europe via
Ukraine declined precipitously after the completion of Nord
Stream 1 in 2011, falling from 80 percent to between 40 and
50 percent of Russia's total exports to Europe;
Whereas, in 2017, Russian gas accounted for 37 percent of
Europe's natural gas imports, an increase of 5 percent over
2016;
Whereas, on December 12, 2018, the European Parliament
overwhelmingly passed a resolution condemning both the
Russian Federation's aggression in the Kerch Strait and the
construction of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline; and
Whereas, on December 11, 2018, the United States House of
Representatives passed a resolution calling upon the European
Union to reject the Nord Stream 2 pipeline and urging the
President to use all available means to promote energy
policies in Europe that reduce European reliance on Russian
energy exports: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the Senate--
(1) calls upon the President to work with United States
allies to promptly lead a robust multinational freedom of
navigation operation in the Black Sea to help demonstrate
support for internationally recognized borders, bilateral
agreements, and safe passage through the Kerch Strait and Sea
of Azov and to push back against excessive Russian Federation
claims of sovereignty;
(2) calls upon the North Atlantic Treaty Organization to
enhance allied maritime presence and capabilities, including
maritime domain awareness and coastal defense in the Black
Sea in order to support Freedom of Navigation Operations and
allied interests;
(3) urges the President to use the authority provided under
section 1234 of the National Defense Authorization Act for
Fiscal Year 2018 (Public Law 115-91; 131 Stat. 1659) to
enhance the capability of the Ukrainian military;
(4) urges the President, through the Departments of State
and Defense, to provide additional security assistance to
Ukraine, especially to strengthen Ukraine's maritime
capabilities, in order to improve deterrence and defense
against further Russian aggression;
(5) reiterates that the President is required by statute to
impose mandatory sanctions on the Russian Federation under
the Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act
(Public Law 115-44);
(6) stresses that sanctions against the Russian Federation
are a direct result of the actions of the Government of the
Russian Federation and will continue and increase until there
is an appropriate change in Russian behavior;
(7) calls upon United States allies and partners in Europe
to deny Russian Navy vessels access to their ports to
resupply and refuel;
(8) notes the resolution passed by the House of
Representatives on December 11, 2018, calling on European
governments to cancel the Nord Stream 2 pipeline and urging
the President to support European energy security through a
policy of reducing reliance on the Russian Federation;
(9) applauds and concurs with the European Parliament's
December 12, 2018, resolution condemning Russian aggression
in the Kerch Strait and the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, calling
for the pipeline's cancellation due to its threat to European
energy security, and calling on the Russian Federation to
guarantee freedom of navigation in the Kerch Strait; and
(10) urges the President to continue working with Congress
and our allies to ensure the appropriate policies to deter
the Russian Federation from further aggression.

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