Hillary Clinton says Russia squandering potential

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says Russian President Vladimir Putin is a tough guy with a thin skin who is squandering his country's potential.

She also says his actions on the Crimean peninsula of Ukraine threaten stability in the region.

Her remarks Wednesday at the University of California, Los Angeles, came a day after the potential 2016 presidential contender likened Putin's actions to those of Adolf Hitler in the 1930s.

Putin contends ethnic Russians in Ukraine need to be protected. Clinton said in Long Beach Tuesday that's what Hitler did when he maintained ethnic Germans in places such as Czechoslovakia and Romania needed to be protected.

Clinton said at UCLA she wasn't making a direct comparison although Russia's actions were "reminiscent" of claims Germany made in the 1930s.