Sen. Dan Coats, R-Ind., spoke with CNN yesterday about the attack on Malaysia Airlines Flight 17.
“The tragedy of Malaysian Air 17 will be, I believe, a defining event in history,” he said to CNN. “It reveals the nature of Putin and his brutal ambitions and ?ruthlessness.”
Flight 17 was struck down while flying over Ukraine this past week. There were no survivors on the flight, and 298 people died, including IU student Karlijn ?Keijzer.
It has not yet been revealed what caused the plane to crash, however Coats said he suspects the perpetrators, if not the technology, came from Russia.
CNN spoke to the senator because of his status as a member of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence and his former position as the ambassador of ?Germany.
In Coats’ opinion, the attack on Flight 17 and Russia’s continued aggression in Ukraine need to be ?addressed.
“Action must follow the outrage and rhetorical condemnation,” he said to CNN about the U.S. government.
Coats said he wants the European Union and the U.S. to unite in “imposing crippling economic sanctions” on Russia if the country does not step down from Ukraine and acknowledge its part in the recent tragedy.
According to a press release, in May, Coats introduced the Russian Weapons Embargo Act of 2014. This bipartisan piece of legislation that would sanction Russia’s Rosoboronexport, the sole state agency for export of Russian weapons systems and defense-related goods.
Coats’ proposal was included in the Fiscal Year 2015 Department of Defense Appropriations Act and the FY 2015 National Defense Authorization Act, according toa press release.
“It’s time for the civilized world to make the choice crystal clear for Russian president Vladimir Putin,” Coats said.
He also accused the president of imperial ambitions motivated by pathological insecurities, according to CNN.
In response, Coats said the countries should look to the historically bullying nature of Russia and choose whether it would be best to act now or later.
“We’ve been pretty timid ourselves here in terms of the White House,” he said.
Coats, along with eight other U.S. government officials, has been banned from Russia by President Putin, according to WISH TV 8.
Sarah Zinn
