GOP presidential candidate Nikki Haley called on the Biden administration to take a stronger stance and demand Russia release a detained Wall Street Journal reporter.
Evan Gershkovich, a Moscow-based correspondent, was detained Thursday by Russia’s security service, the FSB, on allegations of spying.
Haley said the Brittney Griner-Viktor Bout prisoner swap in December emboldened Russia to take more Americans.
"This comes from the weakness of the Biden administration. Putin should be scared to do this, and he's not. And he's getting really desperate," she explained on "The Story" Thursday.
"We know he's getting drones from Iran, he's getting missiles from North Korea. They are running out of the money. The sanctions are setting in. And it's, you know, he's getting desperate. This is what he's going to start to do. But this is a reminder to the American people, whenever you doubt whether Ukraine needs to win, look at this mafia-type dictator who basically does not value human life and does not value freedom. And this is another example of that."
Haley said the Biden administration needs to let Russia know they are not allowed to "wrongfully detain" an American and if they don’t "fix this now…we’re going to fix it."
"If that means we go and we start putting more sanctions, that means we squeeze them more. We do that. But they do have Americans there. They need to give them back," she told anchor Martha MacCallum.
She added that Gershkovich’s detainment was a way for Putin to distract from his losses in Ukraine and was a way for him to get "attention again."
"I think we're going to see more of it. And now he had China show up and President Xi show up and shake his hand and talk about how they're going to change the world order for the first time in 100 years. And they're going to do it together. This is how they're going to do it," she said.
The Wall Street Journal released a statement saying it "vehemently denies the allegations from the FSB" and seeks the "immediate release" of Gershkovich.
Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said the Kremlin was attempting to "intimidate, repress, and punish journalists and civil society voices."
