Cruz Blames Biden's 'Surrender' to Putin for Ukraine Crisis

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, speaks at a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing to examine U.S.-Russia policy on Dec. 7, 2021, at the Capitol. (Alex Brandon-Pool/Getty Images)

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, blasted President Joe Biden in a speech Tuesday on the Senate floor over the growing crisis in Ukraine, as tens of thousands of Russian soldiers have been posted near its border.

Cruz said: ''Right now, as we speak, hundreds of thousands of Russian troops are amassed on the border of Ukraine, waiting to invade. This calamitous foreign policy disaster is Joe Biden's fault. This is the direct consequence of Joe Biden's surrender to Vladimir Putin on Nord Stream 2.

''What is Nord Stream 2? It is a pipeline being constructed from Russia to Germany to carry natural gas. Putin is building Nord Stream 2,'' Cruz continued. ''Why? To go around Ukraine, because right now, Russian gas goes through Ukraine.

''Putin didn't just wake up recently and decide to invade Ukraine. He's wanted to invade Ukraine for years. He did so in 2014, but he stopped short of full invasion. Why? Because the Ukrainian energy infrastructure was necessary to get the Russian gas to market.

''Nord Stream 2 is all about building an alternative avenue to get the Russian gas to Europe so then the Russian tanks can ride into Ukraine.''

Cruz said that while Biden's phone call with Putin was ''real nice,'' it would not prevent an invasion. The only way to stop Putin from invading Ukraine is to follow the law and sanction the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, Cruz said.

''This body could make a major step today to prevent war in Europe, to prevent Russia from invading Ukraine right now, by doing what Democrats and Republicans had agreed to do — had done together — until Biden's surrender to Russia.

''We can do that by passing legislation that I have pending at the desk that would sanction Nord Stream 2, that would stop the project, which would mean Russia would remain dependent on Ukrainian energy infrastructure. And for the same reason Russia didn't continue to invade in 2014, it would stop the invasion. We can do that right now,'' he said.

Cruz then asserted that by objecting to sanctioning Nord Stream 2, Senate Democrats are prioritizing political loyalty to Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris over standing up to Putin.

''A month or two from now, if, God forbid, we see Russian tanks moving into Ukraine, remember this moment where Senate Democrats objected, said, ‘No, we won't sanction the pipeline. We won't save Ukraine. We won't stand up to Russia,''' Cruz said, adding that ''the Russian troops on the Ukrainian border are Joe Biden's fault, and they are Senate Democrats' fault for being unwilling to stand up to a president of their own party.

''And I would note, this particular nominee is a nominee to be the head of protocol at the State Department. It is really bad protocol to drive tanks into somebody else's country. You want to talk about protocol? How about the protocol of 'let's defend American national security interest'? Let's defend Europe. Let's defend our allies. Let's stand up to a tyrannical bully named Vladimir Putin.

''Sadly, Democrats don't want to do that. Accordingly, I object,'' he concluded.