3 Feb, 2024 18:08
Kremlin comments on Nuland’s latest Kiev trip
US Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland’s visits to Ukraine have always been an ill omen for the embattled country, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has suggested when asked for comment on her recent visit.
Peskov made these remarks to Russian journalist Pavel Zarubin, who published excerpts from the interview on Saturday. While suggesting that the Foreign Ministry might have a better assessment of the trip of the outspoken US foreign policy hawk, Peskov still provided his opinion on Nuland’s latest endeavor.
“As a rule, Victoria Nuland’s visit to Kiev does not bring anything good. We remember this from 2014, when she was handing out cookies,” Peskov stated.
The spokesman referred to the infamous episode of the Ukrainian Maidan turmoil. At the time, Nuland, assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian affairs, showed up in Kiev amid the unrest in early December 2013, giving out snacks to protesters.
> The delivery comes from the so-called Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI), which focuses on procuring military hardware for Kiev from private contractors rather than tapping into Washington’s own stocks, the Pentagon has explained.
The looming delivery has been condemned by Moscow, with Russian Ambassador to the US Anatoly Antonov stating it looked particularly cynical in the aftermath of Kiev shooting down an Il-76 Russian cargo plane with Ukrainian prisoners of war on board.
The GLSDB announcement has effectively become “a kind of a reaction to the terrorist attack by Ukrainian thugs,” the diplomat stated. He continued that it was an “irresponsible” and “simply shocking” move.
US supplies to Ukraine to not affect special military op course — Kremlin
MOSCOW, February 3. /TASS/. Washington's supplies to the Kiev regime will in no way affect the course or results of the special military operation, they only make things worse for the Ukrainians themselves, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
Commenting on the words of US Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland about "surprises" for Russia on the battlefield, the spokesman said: "As for surprises - yes, the United States, as a direct participant in this conflict, maintains and increases the degree of its direct involvement in this conflict, continues to provoke the Kiev regime to continue the war. This can in no way affect the course of the special military operation. And this can in no way affect the outcome of the special military operation, all goals will be achieved. The Americans are making it more painful for the Ukrainians, the Americans are making it so that more Ukrainians die. It is the Americans who are doing this, and they should understand this."
Speaking about Nuland's visit to Ukraine, Peskov recalled that her visits to Kiev never end in anything good and it is well proven by the events of 2014.
Now, according to the hspokesman, the US is trying to "miraculously" shift the financial burden to the Europeans. "The Europeans have already pledged 50 billion euros. Let's see how the Americans will twist themselves further so that they themselves do not spend anything, but only earn," Peskov added.
He pointed out that the US in any case maintains its hostile attitude to Russia in all its manifestations. "We know it, we are on alert, our president knows what to do, and the special military operation continues," the Kremlin spokesman concluded.
On Tuesday, Nuland arrived in Kiev, which she has visited many times before, with the last visit taking place in December 2022. Her name became firmly associated with the coup in Ukraine after she traveled to Kiev in the winter of 2013-2014. Nuland met with opposition figures and also went out to protesters on Independence Square in the center of the Ukrainian capital, serving them cookies and sandwiches.
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Last updated (GMT/UTC): 07.02.2014 14:43
By RFE/RL
A senior U.S. diplomat has denied Russian claims that Ukrainian antigovernment militants are trained at the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv.
Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland also said Washington and the international community are ready to provide more aid to Ukraine if leaders move quickly to implement democratic reforms and install what she called a "national technical government" to end the ongoing confrontation between authorities and antigovernment protesters.
"Nobody is going to give economic support from the United States or from the IMF [International Monetary Fund] or from Europe to an unreformed Ukraine," Nuland said.
Nuland was speaking in Kyiv on February 7, one day after she became embroiled in controversy after the leak of a bugged conversation in which she used a vulgarity to dismiss European Union mediation efforts in Ukraine.
The State Department says Nuland has apologized to the EU.
However, Germany, a leading U.S. ally and an EU power, criticized Nuland's comments as "totally unacceptable."
A spokeswoman for Chancellor Angela Merkel said Merkel strongly backs the job being done on the Ukrainian crisis by EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton.
Neither Nuland nor the U.S. State Department has disputed the contents of the recording of the telephone call between Nuland and the U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, Geoffrey Pyatt.
"I am obviously not going to comment on private diplomatic conversations, other than to say it was pretty impressive tradecraft. The audio was extremely clear," Nuland said on February 7.
Earlier, the U.S. State Department suggested that Russia was likely responsible for the disclosure of the conversation.
The controversy has occurred amid a heated competition between Russia, on one side, and the United States and EU, on the other, to influence events in Ukraine.
Russian officials have suggested the recording, in which the American diplomats discuss the capabilities of Ukrainian opposition leaders, shows that Washington is deeply involved in efforts to take over the country.
Mass protests by Ukrainians erupted more than two months ago after President Viktor Yanukovych declined to sign trade and political accords with the EU and instead moved to strengthen Ukraine's economic and political ties to Russia, including agreeing to a $15 billion loan from Moscow.
Nuland, the State Department's most senior official for Europe, met in Kyiv with Ukrainian leaders on February 6, including Yanukovych and opposition leaders.
She denounced as "pure fantasy" an allegation by a Russian official that the United States is arming and training Ukrainian antigovernment militants.
Nuland also said she did not believe the leaked recording would ruin relations between the United States and opposition leaders.
She said the international community, including the United States, is ready to boost financial support for Ukraine if the country's leaders move away from confrontation, embrace democratic reforms, and install a unity technical government to clear the way for new elections.
Speaking about Washington's relations with Russia, Nuland said the United States has "broad and complex" relations with Russia on issues ranging from Ukraine to Syria, arms control, and the Iranian nuclear program.
"We have been in conversation with Russia with regard to the situation in Ukraine," Nuland said. "Our message has been that we all – Ukrainians, Russians, Americans, all of Ukraine's neighbors – have an interest in a stable, peaceful, democratic Ukraine. That's what the Untied States is working to support and we are asking what Russia is working to support."
Yanukovych was due to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin on February 7 on the sidelines of the Olympic Games as they kicked off in Sochi, Russia.
With reporting by Reuters and AFP
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