Ohio senator calls Ukraine elections legitimate Portman, mentioned as a potential Republican presidential candidate in 2016, adopted a much tougher stance on Ukraine than President Barack Obama, declaring that Ukrainian membership in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization should be “a goal,” although he conceded that Ukraine is “probably not ready yet to meet the criteria that NATO has for membership.”
He also called on Russia to return Crimea, a province on the Black Sea annexed last March by Putin. And he spoke of a bill he is sponsoring to send anti-tank and anti-aircraft weapons to Ukraine, a move the Obama administration has so far rejected.