Libertarian Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) said on Sunday that he would have responded to Russia's invasion of Ukraine by "drilling every possible conceivable place" in the U.S. if he were president.
Following his Saturday win in the Conservative Political Action Conference presidential straw poll, Paul was asked by Fox News host Chris Wallace on Sunday if he was willing to let Russian President Vladimir Putin have the Ukraine peninsula of Crimea.
"If they annex Crimea, Ukraine will almost certainly come within the Western orbit," Paul explained. "So, it will backfire on them. Because you will be taking Russian-speaking voters that have been speaking for Russian-speaking presidents of Ukraine, you'll be taking them out of the population."
"The other thing I've said is, that I would do something differently from the president," the Kentucky Republican added. "I would immediately get every obstacle out of the way for our export of oil and gas."
"And I would begin drilling in every possible conceivable place within our territories in order to have production we can supply Europe with if it's interrupted from Ukraine."
