Defense

McCain, Sasse call for coordinated NATO response to poisoning of ex-Russian spy

by Rebecca Kheel 03/15/18 03:07 PM ET

A pair of Republican senators is calling for the United States to lead a coordinated NATO response to Russia’s alleged poisoning of an ex-spy in England.

“Sadly, this attack will not be the last time that Russia tries to silence those who publicly condemn [Vladimir] Putin’s regime from Western soil,” GOP Sens. Ben Sasse (Neb.) and John McCain (Ariz.) wrote in a letter Thursday. “That is why the United States should be leading conversations with our NATO allies weighing a coordinated response now, so that we are better prepared to react to Russia’s next brazen act against our allies and the rules-based international system.”

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McCain, the Senate Armed Services Committee chairman, and Sasse, who sits on the panel, are calling for NATO’s Article 4 to be invoked to speed up the allied nations’ response. Article 4 allows for members to call a special session of NATO’s North Atlantic Council.

The letter was sent to Defense Secretary James Mattis, Deputy Secretary of State John Sullivan and current CIA Director and Secretary of State nominee Mike Pompeo.

The United States, United Kingdom, Germany and France earlier Thursday issued a joint statement accusing Russia of using a military-grade nerve agent to carry out the March 4 attack on former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter, Yulia. The statement described the attack as “an assault on U.K. sovereignty.”

The Skripals remain in the hospital in critical condition.

The United Kingdom responded to the attack by expelling 23 Russian diplomats.

NATO has said it stands by the U.K. after what was the first use of a nerve agent on NATO territory since the alliance’s founding.

On Thursday, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said allies have offered practical support to the United Kingdom and stand ready to follow through if requested.

“I think it’s extremely important to express strong political support to the United Kingdom, sending a clear message that the United Kingdom is not alone,” he said. “We stand together with them.”

Stoltenberg noted that Britain has not invoked Article 5, which says that an attack on one NATO member nation is an attack on all. Article 5 has only been invoked once, after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States.

“Allies are also ready to provide support in the conduct of the investigation and we call on Russia to answer the questions which have been posed by the United Kingdom,” Stoltenberg said. “But I think it’s important that we react in a proportionate, measured and defensive way, and there has been no call for Article 5.”

In their letter, Sasse and McCain applaud the United Kingdom’s “strong step” in expelling diplomats, as well as sanctions announced by the Trump administration Thursday related to Russia’s 2016 election meddling.

“Whether it is the consideration of similar Russian expulsions from NATO nations, freezing more Russian assets, or other appropriate measures,” they wrote, “we must make it inescapably clear to Russia that its shadow operations will meet a coordinated NATO response.”