U.S. needs to impose more sanctions on Russia, AP reported quoting Secretary of State nominee Mike Pompeo.

Pompeo is defending the Trump administration and its efforts to push back against Russia. Pompeo is answering questions at his confirmation hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He says the list of actions the administration has taken is “long.”

But Pompeo also says that Russian President Vladimir Putin has not yet “received the message sufficiently” about troubling behavior by Moscow. Pompeo suggests the U.S. needs to impose more sanctions on Russia.

The nominee did, however, distance himself from a Trump tweet blaming the Russia investigation for “bad blood” between Moscow and Washington, VOA reported.

"The historic conflict between the United States and the Soviet Union and now Russia is caused by Russian bad behavior,” Pompeo said.