Van Hollen: Sanctions Will Make Putin's Ukraine Invasion an 'Epic Miscalculation'

Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) said Tuesday on CNN’s “Tonight” that Congress will vote on sanctions tough enough to make Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion into Ukrainian territory an “epic miscalculation.”

Van Hollen said, “We have to, together with our allies, raise the cost to the highest levels, and President Biden’s actions today with swift and severe sanctions combined with the other actions from the allies was a very important first step as well. It is also important that president Biden indicated that there is a lot more to come in terms of punishing economic sanctions.”

Anchor Wolf Blitzer said, “Did you ever think you would see a threat like this with Putin attempting to redraw the map of Europe by force? What do you think he could be doing next?”

Van Hollen said, “It is our job to make sure it is seen in history as an epic miscalculation by raising the price to Putin. What we can control is what we do next. That is why it was really important to work with our NATO allies and other partners around the world and to act in unison. Now that is what we discussed over the weekend at the Munich conference. In addition to the sanctions on Russian banks, and there will be a lot more to come. We can cut off Russia’s supply of critical technologies like semiconductors from Japan and Taiwan, and  Singapore, big suppliers, bringing them in as well. This has to be a concerted action against a thug, now bullying and launching an invasion against a democratically elected government.”

Follow Pam Key on Twitter @pamkeyNEN