Washington, DC - House Armed Services Committee Chairman Howard P. "Buck" McKeon (R-CA) and Tactical Air and Land Forces Subcommittee Chairman Michael Turner (R-OH) made the following the joint statement following NATO reports of Russian troops operating inside Ukraine:
"If reports prove accurate that Putin has in fact sent over 1,000 troops into Ukraine to support and fight alongside Russian-backed separatists, this is an act of war against the sovereign state of Ukraine."
"This alleged invasion follows Putin’s aggressive armament of Russian-backed separatists, located in Eastern Ukraine's disputed territory, that resulted in the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 and killed hundreds of civilians last month."
"The President needs to definitively state whether or not Russia has invaded Ukraine and immediately condemn this overt escalation of an already serious conflict.”
*Congressman Turner also serves as Chairman of the U.S. Delegation to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly