WASHINGTON–U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), a member of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee, joined MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell live from Munich to discuss the increasing likelihood that Russia will further invade Ukraine. Murphy reaffirmed the United States’ support for our partner Ukraine and applauded the Biden administration’s continued diplomatic efforts to avert war and maintain regional and global stability.

When asked if there is evidence that Putin is ready for a diplomatic path, Murphy said: “From the very beginning, I have really thought there was a low likelihood there was going to be any formal diplomatic path out of this crisis. Either Vladimir Putin was going to invade at just an enormous disastrous consequential cost to his country, or he was going to realize this wasn’t worth it and back down because the things he’s asking for in a diplomatic agreement just aren’t possible.”

Murphy continued: “It’s up to NATO as to whether we want to enlarge or stay the same size. The Kremlin should never get a veto over that. And of course his entire fear about NATO is founded on absolutely false pretenses. We’re a defensive alliance. We don’t present any offensive threat to Russia. We’re never going to step foot on Russian soil. We’re just trying to protect ourselves, and not just from Russian aggression, but NATO has been used most recently to protect against terrorist attacks against the United States.”

When asked about Putin’s shelling of the kindergarten in Eastern Ukraine and his attempt to create a pretext to further invade Ukraine, Murphy said: “I think it’s been very smart by the Biden administration to make clear from the beginning that the Russians were going to create this pretext or going to create an excuse for their invasion. I think the world now knows to view very skeptically any events that happen that are being blamed by Russia or [its] allies on Ukraine, on Kyiv. So I think you are going to see over the next 24 hours some of these pretexts, some of these excuses for Russian invasion…He may be testing the West right now with some of these explosions to see if we bite. If we call them out for what they are, it just makes it much more difficult for him to go forward with this in the way that he may have planned. 

You can watch Murphy’s full interview with Andrea Mitchell here.

Murphy joined U.S. Senators Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.)’s bipartisan delegation to Munich Security Conference (MSC). The MSC is widely considered the world’s leading forum for international security policy. The conference is a “marketplace of ideas” where initiatives and solutions are developed and opinions are exchanged. It also provides a venue for diplomatic initiatives and ideas to cooperatively address the world’s most pressing security concerns. Other members of the congressional delegation include U.S. Senators Ben Sasse (R-Neb.), Richard Durbin (D-Ill.), Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Mark Warner (D-Va.), Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.), Chris Coons (D-Del.), Rob Portman (R-Ohio), Chris Van Hollen (R-Md.), and U.S. Representatives Mike Turner (R-Ohio), James Langevin (D-R.I.), Jim Banks (R-Ind.), Jason Crow (D-Colo.), Buddy Carter (R-Ga.), Tom Malinowski (D-N.J.), Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.), and Ronny Jackson (R-Texas.).

Additional Information on the 2022 Munich Security Conference

YouTube Channel of 2022 MSC Panels and Discussions

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