Keating Says the World Stands United With Ukraine, Against Putin

When an act of militaristic aggression happens overseas, the fog of war often induces reactions of panic and despondency from the general public. In times like these, it is important allow oneself an opportunity to step back from the sensationalist and often incorrect headlines and sound bites that dominate the airwaves, and listen to someone with their finger on the pulse of global affairs.

Congressman Bill Keating (D-MA), who sits on the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, joined me on-air to give his thoughts on the conflict unfurling on the Ukrainian border.

Keating recently returned from a 10-day trip overseas where he met with world leaders including the Secretary General General of NATO Jens Stoltenberg and Vitali Klitschko, Mayor of Ukraine's capitol city Kyiv. Klitschko has become globally famous for personally taking up arms with his fellow countrymen against Putin's army.

"Certainly at that time, I admired his courage," Keating said. "He's got a big target on his back. But the courage of the Ukrainians is inspiring and I think Putin has made some miscalculations on many fronts, but on the front of thinking he could break up the United States and Western countries, I'm sure he was quite surprised the way we stuck together."

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Keating anticipates that in the short-term Putin, who dispatched more than 75 percent of his standing army to the Ukrainian boarders, is likely to move forward with the invasion given the sheer numbers advantage that the Russian army has.

However, Keating posited that Putin cannot sustain this maneuver due to the sanctions levied against Russia and the Russian president's failure to anticipate resistance from the people of Ukraine, the global community, and even his own constituency.

"They've arrested just in the last two days,1,000 people in Russia for protesting," Keating said. "He's getting unrest at home, he's getting unrest through allies that he thought would at least be neutral, and they're not. And the solidarity of the West, U.S., Europe, and also in Asia ... countries like Japan, Taiwan, Singapore you're seeing them join. Even China is distancing themselves from Russia in terms of not being supportive."

Keating then reaffirmed his support for the Biden Administration and global community's response to Putin's invasion, which is centered around accelerating economic sanctions against Russia, continuing to providing armaments to Ukraine, and refraining from putting NATO boots on the ground for combat.

He also discussed bipartisan legislation he is co-sponsoring which adds more targeted sanctions against Russian members of parliament who have voted with Putin to invade Ukraine.

You can listen to the full conversation here: