Whereas, in February 2014, unidentified Russian armed forces entered Ukrainian territory and took control of key military and government infrastructure in the Crimean peninsula of Ukraine; Whereas, in March 2014, the Parliament of the Russian Federation gave rubber-stamp approval to President Vladimir Putin’s request to use military force against Ukrainian territory ostensibly because of the threat of violence from ultranationalists ; Whereas, on March 27, 2014, the United Nations General Assembly adopted Resolution 68/262 calling on states and international organizations not to recognize any change in Crimea’s status and affirmed the commitment of the United Nations to recognize Crimea as part of Ukraine; Whereas the Russian Federation’s illegal invasion and annexation of Crimea has been widely seen as an effort to stifle the spread of prodemocracy developments across Ukraine in 2014 in the wake of the Euromaidan protests; Whereas the Russian Federation is a signatory to the 1994 Budapest Memorandum and thus committed to respect the independence, sovereignty, and borders of Ukraine and to refrain from threats, coercive economic actions, or the use of force against Ukraine’s territorial integrity and political independence; Whereas the Russian Federation committed in the 1975 Final Act of the Conference for Security and Cooperation in Europe (Helsinki Final Act) to respect the sovereign equality and territorial integrity of other participating states; Whereas the Russian Federation’s obligations under the Charter of the United Nations prohibit the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity and political independence of other states; Whereas the Russian Federation’s ongoing illegal occupation of Crimea in Ukraine has been widely condemned by the international community as illegal acts; Whereas the United States and the European Union have imposed sanctions on individuals and entities who have enabled the illegal invasion, annexation, and occupation of Crimea