Pompeo: Trump holds Russia accountable
WASHINGTON – Secretary of State Mike Pompeo strongly defended the administration’s policies on Russia and North Korea on Wednesday, assuring skeptical senators that President Donald Trump has taken “a staggering number” of steps to protect U.S. interests abroad.
Appearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Pompeo said emphatically that Trump will hold Russia accountable for its aggressive actions across the globe and its interference in the 2016 presidential election.
“He has a complete and proper understanding of what happened,” Pompeo said.
Seeking to ease bipartisan concerns that the administration is soft on Russia, the State Department released a statement in advance of Pompeo’s appearance before the committee declaring that the U.S. rejects Russia’s attempted annexation of Crimea. The statement also called on Moscow to end its occupation of the territory.
“In concert with allies, partners and the international community, the United States rejects Russia’s attempted annexation of Crimea and pledges to maintain this policy until Ukraine’s territorial integrity is restored,” Pompeo said in the “Crimea Declaration.”
The statement called on Russia “to respect the principles to which it has long claimed to adhere and to end its occupation of Crimea.”
In his testimony, Pompeo said there will be no relief of Crimea-related sanctions on Russia until Moscow returns control of the peninsula to Ukraine.
Pompeo’s appearance on Capitol Hill marks the first time lawmakers have had a chance to grill a top administration official since Trump touched off bipartisan alarm and outrage at his summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Helsinki nine days ago.
At a joint news conference with Putin after the two leaders met privately, Trump downplayed the conclusions of America’s intelligence agencies and said he accepted Putin’s assertion that Russia did not interfere in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.
Trump later walked back his proPutin remarks, but he has not disclosed what he and Putin discussed during their closed-door tete-a-tete.
At Wednesday’s hearing, the committee’s Republican chairman, Sen. Bob Corker of Tennessee, said Trump seemed “submissive and deferential” toward Putin in Helsinki.
Corker stressed that senators have “serious doubts” about how the White House conducts foreign policy.
“The administration tells us, ‘Don’t worry, be patient, there is a strategy here,’” Corker said. “But from where we sit, it appears that in a ‘ready, fire, aim’ fashion, the White House is waking up every morning and making it up as they go.”
New Jersey Sen. Robert Menendez, the ranking Democrat on the committee, asked whether Trump discussed relaxing tough economic sanctions on Russia and whether he confronted Putin about its aggression in Ukraine and its annexation of Crimea.
Pompeo eventually said “no commitment has been made” to change U.S. sanctions on Russia and the president was “very clear” about U.S. policy opposing Russia’s incursions in Ukraine and Crimea.