Ukraine needs help so that it negotiates from a position of strength

Former US Deputy Secretary of State Victoria Nuland, who held senior positions in the State Department under Presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden and in particular oversaw relations with Russia and Ukraine, in the first post-resignation interview with Politico stated that she still believes that as a result of the war with Russia, Ukraine will “succeed” and become more “sovereign, strong and European” – but only if the United States and its allies continue to help it. In particular, she called for increasing the supply of long-range missiles and air defense systems and helping Ukraine “develop faster than Russia and China.”

According to Nuland, Ukraine was supposed to become the first “brick” for realizing the territorial ambitions of Russian President Vladimir Putin. At the same time, Putin sought to deprive Ukraine of its sovereignty and democratic future, since, according to Nuland, a democratic Ukraine by its very existence would jeopardize the existing model of power in Russia. According to Nuland, it can already be stated that Putin has not achieved success.

At the same time, the former secretary of state did not directly answer the question of whether Ukraine, following the war, will be able to return all territories within its internationally recognized borders, including Crimea, saying only that she considers it a realistic option for Ukraine to negotiate with Russia “from a position of strength.” In particular, Nuland said that a future agreement with Russia, “no matter what is decided on the issue of Crimea, must include the demilitarization of Crimea,” while the issue of borders is “a matter for the Ukrainian people.” At the same time, she mentioned the withdrawal of Russian troops and said that any agreement must include mechanisms that will force Russia (speaking of Russia in the context of the war, Nuland consistently spoke about President Vladimir Putin) to comply with it.

The official US position is that Crimea, annexed by Russia in 2014, is Ukrainian territory and should be returned to Kyiv’s control.

According to Nuland, in 2022, when peace negotiations were conducted with Russia, Ukraine was not in a strong enough position and is not in it now, since Putin is now ready to negotiate only on the principle of “What is mine is mine, and what is yours is it’s being discussed,” and that’s unacceptable.

Nuland also spoke about the mistakes that, in her opinion, the US administration has made since the early 1990s in its policies towards Russia and China. According to her, Washington most likely “didn’t understand quickly enough” that Vladimir Putin has “ambitions” related to territorial expansion, and continued to treat Russia as a country that is ready to comply with the world order. According to Nuland, in relations with authoritarian states it is necessary both to try to agree with their leaders on cooperation “in the interests of the common good” and to interact with the citizens of these countries directly, “to the extent possible.” If the ideology of these countries becomes expansionist and threatens the world order, it is necessary to move to containment and especially help their neighbors. Such countries, Nuland said, should “fear” the United States’ reaction to their actions.

• Nuland served as Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs from 2013 to 2017, and from 2021 to 2024, she served as Deputy Head of the State Department. Russian state media and officials have characterized her as a “hawk” who is fiercely anti-Russian and pro-Ukraine. The episode when, during a visit to Kyiv in December 2013, Nuland treated people protesting on the Maidan, was interpreted in Russia as proof that the United States was behind these protests, and the so-called “Nuland cookies” became a meme. Back in 2019, Russian authorities banned Nuland from entering the country, but in the fall of 2021 she came to Moscow for negotiations – this was one of the last visits by a high-ranking US representative before the Russian invasion of Ukraine.