Rep. Ed Royce, California Republican and chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said the United States should try to have productive relations with a Vladimir Putin-led Russia — with qualifications.
“At the same time, we should be pointing out that Putin is using social media right now to recruit every skinhead and malcontent around Russia and get them into eastern Ukraine,” Mr. Royce told MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.” “We know these separatists were taken into Russia to be trained in how to use these SA-11s and they’re poorly trained, so they now shot down a jetliner.”
Mr. Royce said that in addition to international pressure, the United States can also answer Ukraine’s request for energy in an attempt to curb Russian influence in the area.
“We should have a long-term strategy and we’d have to change the president’s position on this, but one where we sell [natural gas] for the future into the market in Ukraine in order to replace the Russian gas,” he said.
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
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