INDEPENDENCE, Mo. – Marine veteran Lucas Kunce has issued the following statement in response to Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.
“Everyday Ukrainians are under assault from a tyrant,” said Kunce, former International Negotiations Officer representing the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs at conventional arms control negotiations with NATO and Russia. “The only way we’ll destroy Putin is by defunding his war machine — that starts with support for Ukraine and sanctions on Russian oligarchs, but it will only end when we cure Europe’s addiction to Russian oil and natural gas.
“After Russia’s invasions in Georgia and Crimea, I worked for years on the Pentagon’s Joint Staff to prevent more bloodshed. While sitting across from Russian Major General Pavel Zolotarev in 2017, I exposed Russian aggression to try and convince our allies to take a hard line against Putin.
“But Russia supplies 40 percent of Europe’s gas. And for years, Russia used that money from Europe to fund the modernization of its military and fuel Putin’s ambitions of conquering eastern Europe. It’s taken three Russian invasions for change to even be considered. I’ve written on how this status quo would lead to more war. We need to sanction Russia’s oligarchs. We need to cut all the pipelines. We need to build renewables here and end addiction to fossil fuels.
“Defeating a tyrant requires action and tough conversations with your allies. You can’t support Ukraine—or the next country that Putin has in his sights—without making real change. People’s lives are worth it.”
More About Lucas Kunce
Lucas Kunce is a 13-year Marine veteran, national security expert, and antitrust advocate running to take Missouri’s open U.S. Senate seat back for working people. After three deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan, Lucas was stationed at the Pentagon, where he served on the Joint Staff to contain the threat of nuclear and chemical weapons from around the globe, and later represented the United States in arms control negotiations with NATO and Russia. After active duty, he became the National Security Director for the American Economic Liberties Project, where he fought back against the corporate monopolists and corrupt politicians who strip our communities for parts while undermining our security.