The United States must deter Russia from invading Ukraine, and one way to do that is to ensure that Germany cancels the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, Rep. Pat Fallon said on Newsmax Monday ahead of President Joe Biden's meeting with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
"When Joe Biden came into office, he canceled the Keystone XL pipeline here in the United States, and then he greenlighted the Nord Strom 2, and now he's regretting at least one of them; hopefully both, eventually," the Texas Republican said on Newsmax's "National Report."
But Germany's approach on Russia has been "soft," so if Russia wants to invade Ukraine, they need to know the consequences, one of which should be the Nord Stream 2 pipeline is completely canceled, forthwith, by Germany. They shouldn't accept the natural gas."
Further, the secondary bond market should be sanctioned by the United States, said Fallon.
"We sanctioned, in April, directly buying Russian bonds, but the secondary market is where you can hit them," he explained.
Further, denying Russia access to the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT) system would "really cripple their economy," said Fallon.
Russian President Vladimir Putin knows that he will face sanctions, the congressman continued, but "he just doesn't know how severe they are, and he's hoping that China will mitigate that."
Taiwan, he added, is in a "bit safer" place than Ukraine, as 100 miles divides it from China, which "might not be ready to invade quite yet, but we have to prepare for that."
Meanwhile, "deterrents work," and the United States must make sure it has stated its case because Putin won't invade Ukraine if the price is too high to pay, said Fallon.
The congressman also spoke out about troops being spent to Germany, Poland, and Romania, insisting that the United States should secure its southern border before traveling "halfway around the world."
"We can do both, and we should, but it's not going to have a negligible effect," said Fallon.
"Let's be honest, sending roughly just under 10,000 American troops to NATO countries in eastern Europe is not going to do much of anything.
"The reason why there are not 125,000 troops, asked along with, say the Baltic countries of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania is because they are NATO countries. We have an Article 5 provision in the NATO treaty that says an attack on one is an attack on all, so Putin's not stupid. He knows that invading Estonia would be akin to invading Nebraska, and he's not going to do that. He's a bully; and he's picking on the weaker neighbor."
The United States should have sent more lethal aid to Ukraine three months ago, he added, but Biden "dragged his feet."
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Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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