Ukraine Security Partnership Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 4392 To provide security assistance and strategic support to Ukraine, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JULY 30, 2020 Mr. RISCH (for himself, Mr. MENENDEZ, Mr. PORTMAN, Mr. MURPHY, Mr. BARRASSO, and Mrs. SHAHEEN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations A BILL To provide security assistance and strategic support to Ukraine, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Ukraine Security Part- 4 nership Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6 Congress makes the following findings: 7 (1) Throughout its history, Ukraine has experi- 8 enced long periods of occupation. 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:17 Aug 13, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4392.IS S4392 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 4392 IS (2) Between 1919 and 1991, Ukraine was bru- 1 tally ruled by the Soviet Union, whose ruthless pol- 2 icy of agricultural collectivization caused the 3 Holodomor of 1932–1933, a man-made famine that 4 resulted in the death of at least 3,000,000 Ukrain- 5 ians by starvation. 6 (3) During the violent Nazi occupation of 7 Ukraine accompanying World War II— 8 (A) approximately 3,500,000 Ukrainian ci- 9 vilians and 3,000,000 soldiers were killed; and 10 (B) approximately 1,500,000 Jews were 11 massacred. 12 (4) Ukraine declared its independence from 13 Moscow in 1991, after the collapse of the Soviet 14 Union. 15 (5) In the 1994 Budapest Memorandum, the 16 Russian Federation, the United States, and the 17 United Kingdom pledged to ‘‘respect the independ- 18 ence and sovereignty and the existing borders of 19 Ukraine’’ and ‘‘refrain from the threat or use of 20 force against the territorial integrity or political 21 independence of Ukraine’’ in exchange for Ukraine’s 22 surrender of its nuclear arsenal. 23 (6) From November 2004 through January 24 2005, thousands of Ukrainians took to the streets to 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:17 Aug 13, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4392.IS S4392 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 4392 IS peacefully protest electoral fraud and widespread 1 corruption by the ruling elite in the 2004 Presi- 2 dential election, successfully triggering a re-vote, in 3 what became known as the Orange Revolution. 4 (7) During Ukraine’s 2014 Revolution of Dig- 5 nity, or Euromaidan, the pro-Russian government of 6 President Viktor Yanukovych was forced to resign 7 after thousands of Ukrainians peacefully protested 8 Yanukovych’s decision to reject a closer relationship 9 with the European Union and his continued systemic 10 corruption, and over 100 of those protestors were 11 killed by violent government suppression. 12 (8) Fearful of Ukraine’s strengthened pro- 13 Western orientation after the Revolution of Dignity, 14 the Government of the Russian Federation, in viola- 15 tion of international law and in contravention of its 16 commitments in the Budapest Memorandum— 17 (A) sent undisclosed military personnel 18 into Ukraine’s Autonomous Republic of Crimea 19 in February 2014 and has illegally occupied the 20 Crimean Peninsula for the past six years; 21 (B) sent covert military personnel into the 22 Ukrainian regions of Donetsk and Luhansk in 23 April 2014, instigating and supporting a still- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:17 Aug 13, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4392.IS S4392 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 4392 IS ongoing separatist war that has cost nearly 1 14,000 lives; and 2 (C) provided the Buk missile system used 3 by those Russian-backed separatists to shoot 4 down Malaysian Airlines Flight 17 over eastern 5 Ukraine in July 2014, killing all 298 pas- 6 sengers and crew on board. 7 (9) Under Russian control, Crimean authorities 8 have kidnapped, imprisoned, and tortured Crimean 9 Tatars, opposition figures, activists, and other mi- 10 nority populations, and have persecuted religious mi- 11 norities by pressing false charges of terrorism and 12 deregistering religious centers. 13 (10) In September 2014, in an attempt to stop 14 the fighting that the Russian Federation had initi- 15 ated in eastern Ukraine, France, Germany, Ukraine, 16 the Russian Federation, the Organization for Secu- 17 rity and Cooperation (OSCE), and Russian-backed 18 rebel leaders from eastern Ukraine signed the Minsk 19 Protocol. 20 (11) In February 2015, after the failure of the 21 initial Minsk Protocol, the Russian Federation com- 22 mitted to the Minsk II Agreement, the roadmap for 23 resolving the conflict in eastern Ukraine, signed by 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:17 Aug 13, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4392.IS S4392 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 4392 IS the Governments of Ukraine, Russia, France, and 1 Germany. 2 (12) Despite these agreements, the Government 3 of the Russian Federation continues to violate 4 Ukrainian sovereignty through— 5 (A) manipulation of Ukraine’s dependence 6 on Russian natural gas, including cutting off 7 access in 2014, which deprived Ukraine of its 8 energy supply and transit fees; 9 (B) espionage and clandestine assassina- 10 tions on Ukrainian territory; 11 (C) continuous cyber warfare against the 12 Government of Ukraine and Ukrainian busi- 13 nesses, such as the NotPetya hack in 2017; and 14 (D) seizure of Ukrainian property and citi- 15 zens, including the November 2018 seizure in 16 the Kerch Strait of three Ukrainian naval ves- 17 sels and 24 Ukrainian officers on board those 18 vessels. 19 (13) In July 2018, Secretary of State Michael 20 R. Pompeo issued the Crimea Declaration and reit- 21 erated in February 2020 on the sixth anniversary of 22 Russia’s occupation that ‘‘Crimea is Ukraine’’. 23 (14) Since April 2014, at least 4,100 Ukrainian 24 soldiers have died fighting for their country against 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:17 Aug 13, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4392.IS S4392 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 4392 IS the Russian Federation and Russian-backed rebels, 1 while no less than 3,361 civilians have perished as 2 a result of that fighting. 3 (15) Despite Ukraine’s tumultuous history and 4 neighborhood, in under 30 years it has risen from 5 the collapse of the Soviet Union to become a devel- 6 oping democracy, steadily working to overcome its 7 Soviet legacy of oppression, oligarchic control, and 8 corruption. 9 (16) Running on a strong anti-corruption plat- 10 form, Volodymyr Zelenskyy won the 2019 presi- 11 dential election with 73 percent of the vote, and his 12 political party, Servant of the People, won a par- 13 liamentary majority in the Ukrainian parliament, 14 the Verkhovna Rada, marking the first time since 15 independence that one party has controlled the Par- 16 liament, the Cabinet of Ministers, and the Presi- 17 dency. 18 (17) The OSCE confirmed the 2019 elections 19 were ‘‘competitive and fundamental freedoms were 20 generally respected’’. 21 (18) Since 2014, the Government of Ukraine 22 has made difficult and substantial reforms in an ef- 23 fort to address corruption and more closely align 24 with the West, such as slimming and decentralizing 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:17 Aug 13, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4392.IS S4392 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 4392 IS its bureaucracy, removing immunity from prosecu- 1 tion for Members of Parliament, reforming its gas, 2 pension, and procurement systems, and working to 3 adapt its military to the standards of the North At- 4 lantic Treaty Organization (NATO). 5 (19) Despite progress in reforming many areas 6 of Ukrainian governance, serious issues still remain, 7 particularly in the areas of corruption and rule of 8 law. 9 (20) The United States Government has con- 10 sistently supported Ukraine’s democratic transition 11 and its fight against Russian-backed separatists by 12 assisting its governance reform efforts, maintaining 13 robust and coordinated sanctions against the Rus- 14 sian Federation alongside the European Union, and 15 providing the Ukrainian military with training and 16 equipment, including lethal defensive weaponry. 17 (21) In addition to the United States, the Eu- 18 ropean Union, European countries, and Canada have 19 provided substantial diplomatic, monetary, and mili- 20 tary support for Ukraine’s democratic transition and 21 its fight against Russian-led separatists in eastern 22 Ukraine, and also have implemented and maintained 23 robust sanctions regimes against the Russian Fed- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:17 Aug 13, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4392.IS S4392 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •S 4392 IS eration for its illegal occupation of Crimea and its 1 active destabilization of Ukraine. 2 (22) the Government of Ukraine has steadfastly 3 supported the United States and European allies by 4 deploying troops to Iraq, Afghanistan, and NATO’s 5 Kosovo Force (KFOR), allowing United States mili- 6 tary planes to refuel on Ukrainian soil, and trading 7 billions of dollars’ worth of goods and services with 8 the United States. 9 (23) NATO has recently decided to include 10 Ukraine in its Enhanced Opportunities Partnership 11 in recognition of Ukraine’s contributions to NATO 12 missions and efforts to reform its military in line 13 with NATO standards. 14 (24) Since the Russian Federation’s 2014 inva- 15 sion of Ukraine, the United States Congress has 16 demonstrated its support for Ukraine through the 17 passage of legislation, including the Support for the 18 Sovereignty, Integrity, Democracy, and Economic 19 Stability of Ukraine Act of 2014 (Public Law 113– 20 95; 22 U.S.C. 8901 et seq.), the Ukraine Freedom 21 Support Act (Public Law 113–272; 22 U.S.C. 8921 22 et seq.), the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative 23 established under section 1250 of the National De- 24 fense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2016 (Pub- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:17 Aug 13, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4392.IS S4392 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •S 4392 IS lic Law 114–92; 129 Stat. 1068), the Countering 1 America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (Pub- 2 lic Law 115–44), and the Protecting Europe’s En- 3 ergy Security Act of 2019 (Public Law 116–92, title 4 LXXV), and the United States Congress continues 5 to demonstrate strong support for assisting Ukraine 6 in defending itself and deterring Russia. 7 SEC. 3. SENSE OF THE CONGRESS. 8 It is the sense of Congress that— 9 (1) Ukraine stands as a bulwark against the 10 malign influence of the Russian Federation in Eu- 11 rope, and robust United States support for Ukraine 12 is vital to United States national security and dem- 13 onstrates the commitment of the United States to 14 upholding a free and open international order; 15 (2) since Ukraine’s independence in 1991, the 16 Government and people of Ukraine have made sig- 17 nificant strides towards improved governance, rule of 18 law, anti-corruption measures, and economic re- 19 forms; 20 (3) Ukraine’s long-term viability is directly con- 21 nected to efforts to reduce corruption and build 22 strong democratic institutions that are able to de- 23 fend against internal and external corrupt actors; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:17 Aug 13, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4392.IS S4392 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •S 4392 IS (4) the efforts and sacrifices of Ukrainian citi- 1 zens to determine their own fate after centuries of 2 oppression, through democratic representation and 3 governance reforms, is evidence of that country’s 4 dedication to a free, independent, and democratic fu- 5 ture; 6 (5) Ukraine has proven itself to be a valuable 7 security partner of the United States, not simply a 8 recipient of assistance; 9 (6) it is in the national security interests of the 10 United States to continue and deepen its security co- 11 operation with Ukraine; 12 (7) the United States should continue to place 13 policy-based conditions on Ukraine’s receipt of finan- 14 cial and military assistance, as that mechanism has 15 proven effective in incentivizing reforms in Ukraine; 16 (8) the United States should continue to 17 strongly support the provision of both lethal and 18 non-lethal security assistance to the Government of 19 Ukraine; 20 (9) the United States should use its voice and 21 vote at NATO to encourage the adoption of a policy 22 by the Alliance that all of its member states will 23 refuse to recognize the illegal annexation of Crimea 24 by the Russian Federation; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:17 Aug 13, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4392.IS S4392 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 11 •S 4392 IS (10) the United States should continue to bol- 1 ster the capacity of the Ukrainian Navy as it strives 2 to fulfill the goals it set out in its ‘‘Strategy of the 3 Naval Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine 4 2035’’; 5 (11) the military-focused technical, training, 6 maintenance, and logistical assistance provided by 7 the United States to Ukraine is as essential as the 8 military hardware provided to the country; 9 (12) all security assistance provided to Ukraine 10 should continue to be subject to rigorous vetting re- 11 quirements under section 620M of the Foreign As- 12 sistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2378d) and section 13 362 of title 10, United States Code, including assist- 14 ance provided to units in the National Guard of 15 Ukraine as well as all units falling under the author- 16 ity of the Ministry of Defense; 17 (13) the Office of Defense Cooperation at the 18 United States Embassy in Ukraine should be fully 19 staffed with officers who serve three-year terms in 20 order to administer the security assistance being 21 provided to the country; 22 (14) the Secretary of Defense should conduct 23 an assessment of the staffing resources of the Office 24 of Defense Cooperation and strongly consider pro- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:17 Aug 13, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4392.IS S4392 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 12 •S 4392 IS viding additional staff to the Office of Defense Co- 1 operation in Ukraine; 2 (15) the enduring partnership between the 3 United States and Ukraine, including bipartisan 4 support for a sovereign, democratic, and whole 5 Ukraine through political, monetary, and military 6 assistance, remains strong and must continue to be 7 reaffirmed; and 8 (16) the United States should co [Text truncated for display. 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