Congress urges US President to make Russia withdraw forces from Georgia, Ukraine, Moldova

The United States Congress says President Donald Trump "should call on the Government of the Russian Federation to withdraw all of its forces from the territories of Georgia, Ukraine, and Moldova”.

The Government of the Russian Federation continues to ignore the terms of the August 2008 ceasefire agreement relating to Georgia, which requires the withdrawal of Russian Federation troops, free access by humanitarian groups to the regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, and monitoring of the conflict areas by the European Union Monitoring Mission”, the bill says.

Giving overview of the international violations of Russia, the Congress said "the Government of the Russian Federation has applied, and continues to apply, to the countries and peoples of Georgia and Ukraine, traditional uses of force, intelligence operations, and influence campaigns, which represent clear and present threats to the countries of Europe and Eurasia”.

The Congressmen believe $250,000,000 should be issued for Countering Russian Influence Fund for 2018-2019 fiscal years to:

• assist in protecting critical infrastructure and electoral mechanisms from cyberattacks in the Countries that are participating in the enlargement process of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) or the European Union (EU), including Georgia, Macedonia, Moldova, Kosovo, Serbia, and Ukraine;
• respond to the humanitarian crises and instability caused or aggravated by the invasions and occupations of Georgia and Ukraine by the Russian Federation.

Congress has recently introduced the bill to counter aggression by the Governments of Iran, the Russian Federation and North Korea. However, although House and Senate have reached a deal, foreign media says, it is now up to President Trump to either approve or veto it.