What does Victoria Nuland's resignation mean?

Written by Kostas Raptis

During her visit to Kiev in late January, US Deputy Secretary of State Victoria Nuland announced, ahead of the second anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, that Vladimir Putin intended to experience some “surprises” on the battlefield.

But the biggest surprise so far was Noland's resignation, which was announced on Tuesday.

According to what US State Department Secretary Anthony Blinken announced, Nuland informed him of her intention to step down within the next few weeks from the position of Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs (and acting Deputy Secretary for the past seven months, after she served as Under Secretary for Political Affairs) (Wendy Sherman’s resignation), after three Decades and a half of work in a variety of positions in the State Department under six different presidents and 10 secretaries.

The mention of Blinken alone is enough to realize that Nuland was a constant figure in the Washington establishment, unaffected by the shifts in power between Democrats and Republicans. The only period in which the current Deputy Secretary of State was outside of public affairs was the four Trump years.

But most importantly of all, Nuland has undoubtedly remained the embodiment of American policy regarding the Ukrainian issue for at least ten years. That is, since the fateful year of 2014, when he was seen distributing cakes to anti-government demonstrators in Maidan Square, or determining with the then American ambassador in Kiev (and then in Athens) the formation of the next Ukrainian government. – In their phone conversation, which was intercepted and recorded in the records because it contained explicit statements about the Europeans’ ambition to have a say.

Her devotion to the Ukrainian cause is likely due to deeply personal reasons. The Noland family (former surname: Nodelman) hails from Bessarabia in the Russian Empire, which is largely associated with the present-day Republic of Moldova, while “Turia” herself, as she is better known, studied Russian language and literature at Noland University. Brown University.

The 63-year-old Nuland, who is of Jewish descent through her father, is married to the historian (also Jewish) and foreign policy analyst Robert Kagan, founder of the Project for a New American Century in the 1990s. These are an emblematic couple of the so-called “neo-con” circle, who over the past 25 years have played a starring role in promoting a “muscular” defense of American hegemony, in the name of the values ​​of democracy and an “open society.” .

Her sudden departure, for which no specific reason was given, will certainly require an explanation. Of course, there are always the so-called “personal reasons” — and the lucrative opportunities the private sector offers to workers in Washington.

However, the timing raises further doubts. Since the failure of the counterattack carried out by Ukrainian forces last summer until today, pessimism has increased in Western capitals about the development of the war. Perhaps the last thing President Biden needs at this point are the services of well-known “priests” like Nuland.

In addition, the issue of continued aid to Ukraine (due to the fault of Trump's Republican wing) has turned into a topic of intense partisan confrontation in light of the presidential elections next November. Especially since there is an ongoing FBI investigation into the route the money actually took to Ukraine, where corruption is known to be rampant.