President Joe Biden's response to Russian President Vladimir Putin's aggression against Ukraine has been "very slow," and had he acted even a few weeks ago it could have made a difference, Sen. Marsha Blackburn said Tuesday on Newsmax. 

"It has been frustrating to many of us," the Tennessee Republican said on Newsmax's "Wake Up America." "Last fall I wrote, saying now is the time for sanctions, for selling lethal aid to Ukraine so they have it in the country and they could defend themselves, and that now is the time for a coordinated message between the U.S., our allies, and NATO, and he chose not to do any of that."

But Biden could have taken action, "even in January, he could have done it three weeks ago [and it] would have made a difference," said Blackburn. "But he is completely reacting and the world is watching. The Chinese Communist Party is watching. Our allies are frustrated with us."

Meanwhile, Blackburn said nobody knows what is happening in Putin's inner circle, "other than knowing some of the oligarchs are turning against him" over the invasion and the resulting sanctions from the United States and its allies. 

She added that she's filed a resolution calling for the Senate to support removing Russia entirely from the SWIFT money messaging system, "so they're not able to process what they're needing with their economy and tying down the money of the oligarchs and getting sanctions on their reinvestment funds."

This past weekend, the United States, the United Kingdom, and the European Union agreed on blocking "selected" Russian banks from the global financial messaging system and to place "restrictive measures” on Russia's central bank. 

Blackburn said a resolution has also been introduced that calls on the United Nations to remove Russia from its security council. 

"Those are steps that need to happen because Putin has proven that he is going to commit war crimes," said Blackburn. "He is carrying out war crimes right now. Ukraine is fighting not only for the country's survival but for the survival of the Ukrainian people." 

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