‘We are all Ukrainians today’: Gov. Inslee begins Russian commerce stoppage

While Washington state is more than 5,000 miles away from the Ukrainian capital currently under threat of Russian invasion, Gov. Jay Inslee localized the conflict Monday afternoon when he called on the state’s trade regulators to terminate commercial connections with Russia.

“I am directing, today, all of our state agencies to do an inventory to identify any commercial or other connections with Russian state institutions, or significant Russian companies with an eye toward terminating or canceling them and not letting them go forward,” Gov. Inslee said in a Monday press conference.

Russia is listed as the United States’ 20th largest supplier of imported goods, according to 2019 data. Most of those imports come in the form of materials inaccessible to the average consumer: mineral fuels, platinum, iron, steel, fertilizers, and various manufactured chemicals. Despite that, the country still supplies various agricultural products to the United States, including snack foods, tree nuts, vegetable oils, essential oils, and various dairy products.

Seattle rallies behind Ukraine with solidarity demonstration at UW’s Red Square

The governor called on Washington businesses to stop purchasing Russian goods as a small but meaningful contribution effort.

“I am fully supportive of any company, large or small, that decides to join the state of Washington in this effort,” Gov. Inslee continued. “Now, when we take these actions, sometimes there may be an inconvenience for us. But the defense of democracy has totally justified that inconvenience.”

Some attention has been paid in recent days to states such as Utah and New Hampshire, where the governors have called on liquor stores to stop the sale of Russian-made distilled spirits. There are liquor companies that lean into Russian brandings, such as Stoli Vodka, but manufacture their spirits internationally, including in the United States.

Regardless of the extent to which local Washington consumers can protest Russia’s Ukrainian invasion with their product choices, Gov. Inslee’s sentiment of solidarity and support for Ukraine was front and center in his media address.

“Simply put, the people of Washington stand with the people of Ukraine,” Gov. Inslee continued. “We stand with them against this outrageous foreign invasion. And we, in some sense, are all Ukrainians today. And we stand with those people in Russia, who are protesting this vicious, malicious, totally unjustified act of violence.”

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