Congress makes the following findings:
(1)
In March and April 2014, the Russian military invaded and annexed the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea, and the Russian Federation took action to establish pro-Russian separatist States in the Donbas region of Ukraine.
(2)
The Russian Federation has failed to follow the cease-fire agreements established by the Minsk 1 and Minsk 2 accords, and conflict has been present in Ukraine since such invasion and annexation.
(3)
Throughout 2021, Russia amassed troops, weapon systems, and hardware on the border of Russia and Ukraine.
(4)
On December 17, 2021, the Russian Federation presented the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) with a list of security demands, including that NATO would never allow Ukraine, or other former Soviet States, into the alliance. These demands are non-starters for NATO and its “open door policy”, which dates to the alliance’s founding, and gives no third-party a say in such deliberations. These demands were only offered as a justification for a Russian invasion.
(5)
On February 21, 2022, President Vladimir Putin officially recognized the regions of Donetsk and Luhansk as independent States despite international consensus that they remain part of the sovereign territory of Ukraine.
(6)
On February 22, 2022, President Putin ordered Russian troops to enter Donetsk and Luhansk on a “peacekeeping mission” while setting the stage for a larger invasion.
(7)
On February 24, 2022, President Putin ordered Russian forces to conduct a full-scale invasion, moving beyond the regions of Donetsk and Luhansk and initiating attacks throughout broader Ukrainian territory.
(8)
Russian forces continue to devastate Ukraine’s hospitals, schools, homes, and other civilian infrastructure and to threaten nuclear power plants with heavy artillery, multi-launch rocket systems, and munitions systems with no regard for civilian casualties.
(9)
The Russian Federation’s position on the United Nations Human Rights Council and other multilateral organizations is predicated on a commitment to international peace and security. Russia has plainly violated this commitment with its actions.
(10)
The precedent for suspending countries from the United Nations Human Rights Council is firm. In 2011, in the wake of Muammar Al-Qadhafi’s violent crackdown on anti-government protestors, the United Nations General Assembly suspended Libya’s membership in the Council.
(11)
The grave violations of human rights and the war crimes committed by the Russian Federation in its invasion of Ukraine undermine the credibility of the United Nations Human Rights Council while the Russian Federation continues to sit on the council. It emboldens United States adversaries to continue to threaten freedom, peace, and security without fear of being diplomatically cut off from the international rules-based order.
(12)
The Russian Federation has repeatedly abused INTERPOL’s mechanisms and procedures, including its Red Notices, to harass and seek the arrest and transfer of dissidents and opponents of the Kremlin.