Ahead of the hearing, Pompeo issued a statement declaring that the United States will never recognize Crimea as a part of Russia, in an apparent effort to preemptively rebut senators' claims to the effect that US President Donald Trump is soft on Russia.
Crimeans voted overwhelmingly to join the Russian Federation not just in the face of the fascist Euromaidan revolution, but also a law banning them from speaking their primary language — Russian.
At the Pompeo hearing, Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN), a critic of the president, pushed back on the Helsinki summit, suggesting that Trump was "submissive to Putin in Helsinki, Finland."
"Whenever Trump says anything slightly friendly with regard to Putin or Russia, the Republicans — the administration itself, Pompeo, other members of the cabinet — feel obliged to issue some kind of hawkish statement to protect their right flank against Democratic attacks," Lazare said.
"The Democrats are trying to out-flank the Republicans on the right with regards to Russia," Lazare added. "That's how I see the Crimea declaration."