"The list of actions that this administration has taken — I'm happy to walk through each of them," Pompeo said on Thursday when asked about actions taken to counter Moscow. "A handful of weeks ago, the Russians met their match and a couple hundred Russians were killed."
The nominee for top diplomat also pointed out that the Trump Administration has taken a number of other actions beyond mere sanctions to counter Russia.
"The largest expulsion of 60 folks was from this administration," Pompeo said. "This administration announced a Nuclear Posture Review that has put Russia on notice that we're going to recapitalize our deterrence force in Syria."
In February, the US-led coalition fighting against the Islamic State (IS) terrorist group, outlawed in Russia, said that it had carried out defensive airstrikes against the pro-government forces in Syria that attacked the headquarters of the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). Soon after that media reported that at least 100 Syrian pro-government troops were killed in the coalition’s strikes.
The Russian Foreign Ministry said on February 20 that several dozens of citizens of Russia and CIS countries were injured in a clash in Syria, who were not servicemen. The ministry reiterated that Russian nationals were present in Syria, noting that they had gone there at their own will for various reasons.
Pompeo has served as CIA Director since January 23, 2017. In March, he was nominated by US President Donald Trump to become US Secretary of State after firing Rex Tillerson via Twitter.
