Former Hewlett-Packard chief executive Carly Fiorina said that if she were elected president, she wouldn’t talk to Russian President Vladimir Putin "at all," adding that "we’ve talked way too much to him."
Fiorina said the only way Putin will stop "is to sense strength and resolve on the other side, and we have all of that within our control."
Instead of talking to Putin, Fiorina listed off a list of policy avenues she'd immediately pursue, including rebuilding the missile defense program in Poland and conducting regular military exercises in the Baltic States.
"Vladimir Putin would get the message," Fiorina said.
Fiorina also snuck in a jab at Donald Trump, who fumbled foreign policy questions in a recent interview with Hugh Hewitt, one of the moderators for Wednesday's debate.
Deft answers to questions on foreign policy by contrast with her Republican rivals earned Fiorina praise in her first debate appearance in which she appeared with the second-tier candidates.
While her comments were met with applause on Wednesday, Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul critiqued her during the debate.
Paul was asked if he agreed with Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker’s calls for President Obama to cancel the visit of Chinese leader Xi Jinping to Washington. Paul said he couldn’t imagine what would have happened if the United States had stopped communicating with Russia during the Cold War.