Press Releases

Today, Congressman Gerry Connolly (D-VA), President Emeritus of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, and Congressman Joe Wilson (R-SC), both senior members of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, introduced the Defending Ukrainian Territorial Integrity Act. This bipartisan legislation would codify the United States’ support for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity in the face of Russian military action and potential annexation referenda. 

The Ukrainian Territorial Integrity Act would prohibit the United States Government from recognizing any potential referenda in Russian-occupied, sovereign Ukrainian territory. The legislation is based on Connolly and Chabot’s Crimea Annexation Non-Recognition Act, which was first introduced following Russia’s illegal invasion and annexation of Crimea in 2014 and which passed the House 427-1 in March 2019.

“As President Biden has made clear, the United States will never acquiesce to Russia’s unprovoked and illegal invasion, occupation, and annexation of Ukraine’s sovereign territory,”said Congressman Connolly. “Still, we must repeat time and time again, for however long it takes, that we will never recognize any sham Russian annexation of Ukrainian territory – not today, not tomorrow, not ever. Not in Crimea, and certainly not now in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions. I want to thank my friend Joe Wilson for his partnership on this issue, and I look forward to working with him to get this vital legislation signed into law.”

"The war criminal Putin's full-scale invasion of Ukraine and continuing war of aggression against its people cannot be permitted. Therefore, the U.S. must lead by example and prevent any territory that has been illegally annexed by the Russian Federation inside the sovereign nation of Ukraine from ever being recognized as legitimate. This legislation demonstrates the U.S. government's strong solidarity with the people of Ukraine, who will be victorious in their defense. I appreciate Congressman Connolly, senior member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, for his leadership,” said Congressman Wilson.

Full text of the Defending Ukrainian Territorial Integrity Act is available here.