Bernie Sanders: Ukraine Should Not Join NATO, ‘Hypocritical’ for U.S. to Not Accept Spheres of Influence

EXCERPT:

SANDERS: “As many might recall, in 1962 we came to the brink of nuclear war with the Soviet Union. Now, why was that? Why did we almost come to the brink of nuclear war with the Soviet Union? Well, we did that in response to the placement of Soviet missiles in Cuba 90 miles from our shore. And the Kennedy administration saw that as an unacceptable threat to national security. We said, it is unacceptable for a hostile country to have a significant military presence 90 miles away from our shore. And let us be clear, the Monroe Doctrine is not ancient history. As recently as 2018, Donald Trump Secretary of State Rex Tillerson called the Monroe Doctrine 'as relevant today as it was the day it was written.' In 2019, former Trump national security adviser John Bolton declared: 'The Monroe Doctrine is alive and well.' To put it simply, even if Russia was not ruled by a corrupt, oligarchic, authoritarian leader like Vladimir Putin, Russia, like the United States, would still have an interest in the security policies of its neighbors. And I want people to think about this. Does anyone really believe that the United States would not have something to say if, for example, Mexico or Cuba or any country in Central or Latin America were to form a military alliance with a U.S. adversary? Do you think that members of Congress would stand up and say well, you know, Mexico is an independent country, they have the right to do anything they want? I doubt that very much.”