Menendez Calls on State Department Regional Assistant Secretaries to Report on U.S. Diplomatic Strategy to Counter Russian Influence, Aggression Around the World

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, today sent a series of oversight letters to five regional Assistant Secretaries of State to request specific details about the State Department’s diplomatic strategies to counter Russian influence and aggression, including how they are working to ensure that countries around the world are imposing and enforcing sanctions on the Putin regime and the Russian economy.

In his letters to the Assistant Secretaries for the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs, Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs, Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs, Bureau of African Affairs, and the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, Chairman Menendez underscored the need for the U.S. government to reorient its foreign policy and national security strategy and galvanize a durable diplomatic approach to effectively counter Kremlin aggression.

“A truly comprehensive and ultimately effective effort to counter the Kremlin cannot be limited to Europe. The world needs to united against an emboldened Kremlin, not with only with rhetoric, but action,” Chairman Menendez wrote. “If the world does not counter this rising threat, Russian aggression will be the scourge of future generations to come in every region. We must act now.”

In addition to requesting details regarding how the respective regional Assistant Secretaries are working to encourage countries to provide financial support to Ukraine and security assistance to the Ukrainian armed forces, Menendez also inquired about specific efforts to encourage governments to end purchases of Russian military equipment, cut off economic ties with Russia, and counter the Kremlin’s persistent disinformation campaigns.

Click HERE for a copy of the letter to Assistant Secretary for Near Eastern Affairs Yael Lempert.

Click HERE for a copy of the letter to Assistant Secretary for South and Central Asian Affairs Donald Lu.

Click HERE for a copy of the letter to Assistant Secretary for Western Hemisphere Affairs Brian Nichols.

Click HERE for a copy of the letter to Assistant Secretary for African Affairs Molly Phee.

Click HERE for a copy of the letter to Assistant Secretary for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Daniel Kritenbrink.

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