WASHINGTON – At a hearing today that included testimony from Obama administration officials on the U.S. response to the crisis in Ukraine, U.S. Senator Bob Corker, R-Tenn., ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said the U.S. needs “a unified and very strong reaction” to Russia’s military intervention in Crimea “over a long time.” Corker continues to work with Chairman Robert Menendez, D-N.J., on bipartisan legislation that will support Ukraine’s political and economic transition and impose consequences for threats to Ukraine’s sovereignty and territory.
“I don’t know that we could say that Russia would not have done what it did in Ukraine with a different approach, but I think that there’s a permissive environment that we have created through this reset – thinking that someone like Putin reacts to warmth and charm and reach out when what he really reacts to is weakness, and I think he has seen that in our foreign policy efforts over the course of this last year,” said Corker.
“I’m thankful today that…there are some steps that are being taken,” added Corker. “We stand ready to enable the administration to act even more forcefully. I could not be more disappointed that we are where we are. I think our credibility very much…is on the line, and I do think that us having a unified and very strong reaction and approach over a long time…is very important relative to Russia right now.”
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