North Atlantic Treaty Organization

Floor Speech

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Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, last week, the world witnessed an unprovoked violation of NATO airspace by Russia. Nearly 20 Russian drones entered Polish airspace, some traveling up to 300 miles in the country. For nearly 6 hours, NATO aircraft sought out and destroyed these Russian intruders.

Then this weekend, fighter jets intercepted another Russian drone that entered NATO airspace--in this case, Romania.

The EU's chief diplomat Kaja Kallas promptly said of the recent incident: ``The violation of Romanian airspace by Russian drones is another unacceptable breach of an EU member's state sovereignty. This continued reckless escalation threatens regional security.''

I couldn't agree more. With such brazen testing of NATO defenses, one would expect our leader, the President of the United States, to make a similar condemnation and reaffirm the alliance's formidable defensive capabilities.

But the response from President Trump has been silence or bizarre musings saying maybe it was just a mistake by Russia. After months of Russian President Putin ignoring Trump's deadlines for negotiations to end the war in Ukraine, he is once again letting Putin embarrass him on a global stage.

Can anyone here imagine Ronald Reagan being played over and over again by the Russians like this? How about John McCain? How about the Republican Party before Trump, which has sat quietly month after month afraid to speak the truth about Vladimir Putin?

Is there anyone in this Chamber who would argue with a straight face that a Democratic President repeatedly kowtowing to Russian aggression wouldn't be met with howls of criticism?

So let me say this once again to President Trump: I don't fault you for trying to negotiate an end to this horrific war in Ukraine, but it has been clear for some time to everyone that Mr. Putin is not serious about your overtures.

In fact, he has repeatedly responded with embarrassingly clear replies. What did he do when we told him we wanted peace in Ukraine? He increased bombing. He violated NATO airspace. He teamed up with other global despots in acts of sabotage and mayhem all across Europe.

I urge President Trump to finally see Putin for the person he is and what he is doing to America's reputation and the President's own personal legacy. And we in Congress should finally move this week to pass the Russian sanctions bill, which I understand has 85 cosponsors. It is long overdue. Let's do it.

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