Ben Carson said during Thursday night’s Republican presidential debate that he would take on the “bully” Russian President Vladimir Putin if elected the next commander in chief.
Carson said he would step up U.S. involvement to protect allies if Putin invaded other countries in the Baltic region who invoked Article 5 of NATO.
“Putin is an opportunist and he’s a bully and we have to face him down. I would face him down in the whole Baltic region,” Carson said.
Carson said specifically that he would increase the number of armored brigades in the region, run more military exercises in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, add missile defense systems, put limits on the Russian economy and provide offensive weapons to Ukrainians fighting Russian-backed separatists in Crimea.
The administration has so far declined to provide offensive weapons to the Ukrainians, instead providing defensive equipment like night vision goggles.
