Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Wednesday took a tough line on Russia and its annexation of Crimea as lawmakers demanded specifics from him on President Trump’s Helsinki summit with Vladimir Putin.
Testifying at a tense hearing of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Pompeo unveiled what he called the administration’s “Crimea Declaration.”
“I want to assure this committee that the United States does not and will not recognize the Kremlin’s purported annexation of Crimea. There’s no relief of Crimea-related sanctions until they return the Ukraine,” Pompeo said.
He bristled when pressed by ranking Democratic member Robert Menendez of New Jersey to reveal what Trump told him about a two-hour-plus private Putin summit huddle.
Pompeo also tried to convince senators that Trump knows Russia interfered in the 2016 presidential election — despite the commander-in-chief’s calling it “fake news” and “a hoax.”
Pompeo said he had personally told top Russians that there would be “severe consequences” for new interference in US elections.
