Politicians on both sides of the aisle in the United States issued stinging rebukes of Russia’s recent actions against Ukraine, including its recent recognition of two separatist regions as independent and the country’s subsequent troop deployment to the area. 

Republicans in particular offered harsh words for Russia, with many calling on President Joe Biden to crack down further on Moscow and the Kremlin.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., issued a statement on Tuesday saying the United States and its allies must issue “devastating sanctions” against Russia and the Kremlin, beyond what was announced by the U.S. and the United Kingdom already this week. 

“As he escalates his war against Ukraine, Putin must be made to pay a far heavier price than he paid for his previous invasions of Georgia and Ukraine,” McConnell wrote in part. “This should begin, but not end, with devastating sanctions against the Kremlin and its enablers.” 

“The President should waste no time in using his extensive existing authorities to impose these costs,” McConnell added.

Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., said Biden’s decision against imposing additional sanctions following Russia’s deployment of troops to the Donbas region was “not acceptable.” 

“[Putin] just said [Russia] recognizes the separatist's claims to the whole Donbas, including the areas currently controlled by the real Ukrainian government,” Rubio wrote on Twitter. “This is basically a declaration of war against [Ukraine].” 

Florida’s other senator, Republican Rick Scott, was even more critical of Biden’s actions, saying on Twitter: “The Biden administration is all talk, no action. Putin isn’t interested in diplomacy & is doing what he wants because Joe Biden has shown nothing but weakness & appeasement on the world stage.”

Another Florida lawmaker – Rep. Val Demings, a Democrat who is currently vying for Rubio’s Senate seat – called Putin’s deployment of troops to Ukraine an “outrage,” adding the Russian leader “and his corrupt regime must pay a personal price.”

“It is unprovoked, the act of a coward, despite attempts by Russia to falsely manufacture an excuse for war,” Demings said of the deployment.

“Now, we must show President Putin our nation’s unwavering resolve, and impose the toughest sanctions in history against the Russian government, oligarchs, and enablers of the so-called ‘independent’ states in Ukraine’s sovereign territory,” she added. “We must keep Americans in the region safe, prevent further escalation, and work with our European allies to support the Ukrainian people with arms and humanitarian assistance.” 

In an interview with a local news station in his home state of South Carolina, Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham said he supports Biden’s efforts to sanction Russia, saying in part: “To the extent that I can help [Biden] push back against Putin and bring stability to the world, I will gladly do so.”

Graham also said he and a coalition of bipartisan senators are putting together an emergency supplemental bill that could be introduced as early as next week in an effort to “go after the oligarchs who enrich themselves from Putin's misadventures.”

“It's now time for that crowd to lose their yachts, lose their luxury apartments and to pay a price for being part of a thuggish group,” he added. 

Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, said in a statement that he agreed with the sanctions imposed against Russia on Monday, adding that he hopes the Biden administration will  “work with allies to join us to ensure a coordinated response to this unwarranted continued incursion on sovereign territory of Ukraine.” 

In a follow-up tweet, Portman added that he is “encouraged” that Germany halted construction on the NordStream2 pipeline that would have brought natural gas from Russia directly to Europe. 

“Russia's illegal occupation of the Donbas is a clear violation of Ukrainian territory and must be met with sanctions and diplomatic condemnation,” Portman said. “This decision by Germany is a good start.”

Rep. Tim Ryan, a Democrat running to take over Portman's Senate seat, sent his condolences and well-wishes to "the innocent victims of this conflict in Ukraine and the Ukrainian-American families in Ohio and across this country," adding in part: "We know this situation is very personal to them."

“Putin has zero regard for the pain and suffering he has already inflicted through his Russian-funded separatist proxies and that which he will soon inflict by his decision now to invade Ukraine. Tens of thousands of innocent lives in a democratic nation are at risk," Ryan continued. "The United States must stand in solidarity with Ukraine by immediately imposing crippling sanctions that will be devastating to Putin’s interests."

Fellow Ohioan Sen. Sherrod Brown, a Democrat, similarly encouraged Biden to swiftly implement the sanctions and to work with allies to create more, if necessary. 

“President Biden should begin to impose the punishing sanctions he has prepared, including against Putin himself,” Brown wrote in a Twitter thread, adding: “President Biden and the international community should use all of the diplomatic, financial and economic tools available to forcefully address this act of aggression and ensure the security of the people of Ukraine.”

“I have worked with my colleagues to ensure the President has the tools to sanction Russia’s leaders, its banking and finance sectors, and other critical industries,” he continued. “Now is the time to begin using these tools, to show Putin the consequences Russia will suffer from his actions.”

A handful of Democrats traveled to Poland this week to discuss security issues pertaining to neighboring Ukraine. 

“I’m hearing that Polish families trust NATO and are pleased with the arrival of the 82nd Airborne to help guard their country from Putin,” Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., one of the three senators who traveled to the European country, said in part.

“Whether Putin is driven by megalomaniacal delusions of restoring the Soviet Union or is seeking to create chaos and sow dissension among Ukraine and NATO allies is unclear,” Durbin wrote in a subsequent statement. “His outrageous moves in the last 24 hours in Ukraine warrant severe sanctions on him and his entire circle.”

Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., another participant in the trip to Poland, called on President Biden to levy additional sanctions against Russia on Tuesday. 

“Vladimir Putin’s illegal annexation of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions of Ukraine must be met with fierce condemnation from the global community and a response that sends the message, without equivocation, that NATO, the West and democracies around the world will not sit by while Putin wages war on Ukraine,” she wrote in part. “The administration should utilize the tools at its disposal and levy severe sanctions today.”

“[Putin’s] attempts to divide the West and NATO have only strengthened our transatlantic alliance and our determination to hold him accountable for violating Ukraine’s sovereignty and threatening Europe’s security,” Shaheen added.

New York’s Rep. Gregory Meeks, head of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, condemned “in the strongest of terms” Russia’s recognition of Donetsk and Luhansk as independent states, saying it was a violation of the Minsk agreement.

The Minsk agreements brokered a ceasefire between Ukraine and Russia in 2014 in order to end fighting in the Donbas region, where both Donetsk and Luhansk are located. Both Russia and Ukraine have, at separate times, not complied with various aspects of the treaty.

“With this decision, President Putin has decided to reject serious attempts at a diplomatic resolution to this fabricated crisis,” Meeks wrote of Putin’s recognition of the two regions. “Furthermore, he is showing to the world that this crisis is not about NATO enlargement but about his fear of an independent, democratic, and free Ukraine.”

“Moscow’s assault on another country’s sovereign territory calls for a multilateral response, including punishing sanctions and continued financial and military support for Ukraine,” he added.