Stefanik supports Ukraine

In May, Ms. Stefanik announced she would be supporting a bill to counter Russian election interference. The most aggressive section of the bill directs the Secretary of Defense to conduct more joint NATO naval exercises in the Black and Baltic Sea and research with allies how to increase regional military capabilities to deter Russia, according to the release from Ms. Stefanik’s office. As of Monday, the bill has not left committee, according to Congress’s website.

Western countries rose to Ukraine’s defense Monday, using an emergency session of the U.N. Security Council to condemn Russia for opening fire on Ukrainian naval vessels a day earlier, impounding them and wounding several sailors. The confrontation Sunday, in the vicinity of the Kerch Strait, a narrow passage between the Black and Azov Seas, was a serious escalation in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine and a rare example of direct military engagement between the two countries. Though they have been locked in a vicious war for almost five years, much of the fighting has been between Ukrainian forces and Russian-backed separatists in the east of Ukraine.

Russia’s attempt to use the Security Council session to blame Ukraine for the violence backfired, as ambassadors from the United States, Britain, France and others accused Russia of recklessness and violating Ukraine’s sovereignty.

Nikki Haley, the ambassador from the United States, called the episode an “arrogant act” by Russia that the Trump administration and the international community would not accept.

“As President Trump said many times, the United States would welcome a normal relationship with Russia, but outlaw actions like this one continue to make that impossible,” she said.

And Britain’s ambassador, Jonathan Allen, warned that the confrontation could presage further efforts by Russia to gain full control of the waters it shares with Ukraine.

The Ukrainians also received a strong statement of solidarity from NATO’s secretary-general, Jens Stoltenberg, who said at a news conference in Brussels that all of the organization’s members “expressed full support for Ukraine’s territorial integrity and sovereignty.” He called on Russia to ensure “freedom of navigation” for Ukraine and demanded that Russia “release immediately the Ukrainian sailors and ships it seized.”

Watertown Daily Times reporter Abrahan Kenmore contributed to this story.