WASHINGTON – U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for secretary of state says the United States should have reacted more forcefully to Russia’s annexation of Crimea, including with immediate military assistance, to prevent further Russian aggression in Ukraine.
Former ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson said in a Jan. 11 confirmation hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that President Barack Obama’s administration’s response to the annexation emboldened the Kremlin to back separatists in eastern Ukraine with weapons and soldiers.
