Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) spoke briefly to reporters after his keynote speech at CPAC, criticizing President Barack Obama's foreign policy but adding that he agrees military action against Russia would be unwise.
"No one wants to see military action between the United States and Russia," Cruz said to a crush of reporters. "When you have two superpowers with massive nuclear stockpiles, no one reasonably wants to see military conflict. But there are a host of things we can and should be doing short of military conflict."
"I'll say number one, Putin would not be acting with this level of aggression if it were not for the consistent weakness and appeasement of our enemies of President Obama," he added. "Bullies and tyrants do not respect weakness, and it is that weakness that invites -- Putin is all but openly laughing at the president."
A reporter also asked Cruz what he thinks of Hillary Clinton running in 2016. Cruz largely tried to focus on Obama's record, although he added that he believed she would continue his policies:
I'm less concerned about Hillary Clinton than I am about the direction this country is going. We will have had eight years of a failed economic agenda that is resulting in a lack of leadership across the world, it is allowing Russia and Iran and China to expand their spheres of influence and make the world a much more dangerous place.
And at home, people are hurting. We've got the lowest labor force participation since 1978. Let me tell you: We can't afford eight more years of this. Hillary Clinton would continue the failed Obama economic agenda, and there comes a point where you can't turn this country around.
See more updates on the crisis in Ukraine below: