During her time at the United Nations, Haley was a frequent and outspoken critic of Putin. In 2018, shortly before resigning from her post, Haley criticized Putin's attack on Ukrainian ships, saying his "outlaw actions" should be condemned by the international community.

"What we witnessed this weekend is yet another reckless Russian escalation," Haley said at the time. "The United States continues to stand with the people of Ukraine against this Russian aggression."

Just a few months prior, then-President Trump famously defended Putin during a press conference in Helsinki, Finland, following the US intelligence community's conclusion that Russia had meddled in the 2016 presidential election to help Trump get elected. Even Republicans panned Trump's defense of Putin, with then-House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) saying there was "no question" the Putin administration interfered in the election. Senator John McCain (R-AZ) called Trump's remarks "disgraceful," adding "no prior president has ever abased himself more abjectly before a tyrant."

Haley is attempting to shore up support among New Hampshirites ahead of the Granite State's first-in-the-nation primary on Tuesday. Polls show her trailing Trump by roughly 13 percentage points.