Portman, Kasich oppose Trump's Russia suggestion

Republicans John Kasich and Rob Portman and Democrat Sherrod Brown agree on one topic when it comes to President Donald Trump.

Ohio’s governor and U.S. senators strongly disagree with Trump’s suggestion that Russia should be reinstated to a coalition of the world’s economic superpowers.

Russia was booted from the group of G-8 nations four years ago after the Kremlin invaded and claimed Crimea as part of its territory. Trump made his remark as he headed to Canada on Friday for a meeting of the international leaders forming the downsized G-7.

The term-limited Kasich, a Trump critic who is considering a third run for the presidency in 2020, has increasingly weighed in on foreign policy.

“Russia was kicked out of the G-8 because of its invasion and annexation of Crimea. Since that time, Moscow has encouraged and directed a separatist insurgency in Eastern Ukraine, intervened in support Syria’s murderous dictator and the war crimes that he has perpetrated, interfered in the U.S. presidential election, waged an information war to undermine Western democracies, attempted to assassinate opponents on the sovereign territory of our allies, and made common cause with China to undermine the post-WWII international security system and the democratic values embedded in it,” Kasich said in a written statement Friday.

“There has been no indication of any change of course on Russia’s part.”

Portman said, “Russia shouldn’t be let back into the G-8 until it changes the behavior that caused it to be expelled in the first place.

“The fact is, Russia still occupies Crimea and continues to fuel a violent conflict in eastern Ukraine. It maintains its support for the murderous Assad regime and aggressively uses disinformation and propaganda in an attempt to undermine, weaken, and divide the United States and our NATO allies. This kind of behavior should be condemned, not rewarded.”

Brown added, “We cannot forget why Russia was expelled from the G- 8 in the first place — for illegally invading Ukraine. The Ukrainian community in Ohio knows all too well the dangers of unchecked Russian aggression, and we should not turn our back on the Ukrainian people.”