NORFOLK, Va. - A local expert says people in Hampton Roads should expect to feel impacts from the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
"We've already seen the the impact on stock markets. Inflation will go up. Oil and gas prices are going up. This is going to be a very difficult situation," said Dr. Regina Karp, the Director of Graduate Programs in International Studies at Old Dominion University.
President Biden announced more sanctions against Russia during a press conference on Thursday afternoon, but Karp cautions they can also impact the U.S.
"Sanctions always cut both ways. They're going to hurt us as well, so we're all involved in this in this war that that Putin has started," said Karp.
There are also local military ties to the conflict. The locally-based Harry S. Truman Strike Group has also been under NATO command in the Mediterranean.
"They're out there. They're doing the work of our Navy standing with NATO," Rep. Elaine Luria (D-Va.) said during an event in Hampton Thursday morning.
"We stand united in a bipartisan way with our allies to make sure we can impose the most severe sanctions and consequences for Vladimir Putin and his actions."
Luria was joined at the event in NASA with other members of Congress, including Rep. Rob Wittman (R-Va.), who said Thursday morning the U.S. needs to send a stronger message to Russia.
"Swift decisive action is to make sure that there's a cost incurred by Russia for this vicious action. Putin is a vicious opportunist," said Rep. Rob Wittman (R-Va.).
Karp said she doesn't expect the U.S. to become militarily involved in the current crisis, but said that could change if Russia pushes westward into other countries, particularly if they are NATO allies.
"If you are in a situation like this, your aim is to deter, but at this at the same time, the risk is to provoke, so you want to be very, very careful what you do," she said.
Karp said Putin is motivated by a feeling Russia doesn't get the respect he feels it deserves.
"Our first goal should be to limit the scope of that war and to reduce the suffering of the Ukrainian people. Our second goal is to make sure that it does not go beyond Ukraine," she said.
Related: World leaders denounce Putin as Russia launches invasion of Ukraine
