Michael McFaul has suggested that the US president is ignoring Ukrainian narratives about the country’s conflict
FILE PHOTO: Michael McFaul. © Alex Wong / Getty Images Former US Ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul has slammed President Donald Trump for what he called an over-reliance on RT with regard to the Ukraine conflict. His comments came after Trump criticized Kiev for allowing the conflict with Moscow to fester for years. On Tuesday, McFaul, a longtime Democrat and Trump critic who served as the US ambassador under former President Barack Obama from 2012 to 2014, blasted the US leader over his stance on the Ukraine conflict. “I wish President Trump and his team could talk to these Ukrainian soldiers and not just rely on RT for their information about [Russian President Vladimir] Putin’s invasion of their country,” he wrote on X, posting a picture of himself standing alongside Ukrainian service members, captioned with “Glory to Ukraine.” While often described as an architect of the US-Russia ‘reset’ prior to the Western-backed coup in Kiev in 2014, McFaul has since taken a hawkish stance on Russia, pushing for harsh sanctions and international isolation of the country.
Read more McFaul has faced criticism from Russian officials, who accused him of “fomenting revolution” by offering support to opposition figures within the country in the 2010s. In 2016, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova called McFaul an “anti-example” of how an ambassador to a foreign country should behave while in office. The former ambassador’s remarks come in the wake of recent high-level US-Russia talks in Saudi Arabia, which excluded Ukrainian and EU representatives. Both Russian and US diplomats touted the engagement as highly productive while agreeing to continue work to resolve the Ukraine conflict. Following the meeting, Trump signaled that he is “very disappointed” with Kiev for failing to resolve the conflict with Russia despite having ample opportunity to do so. Earlier, he said Ukraine is highly unlikely to join NATO, while suggesting that Kiev should consider holding elections. Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky, whose presidential term expired last May, has refused to hold elections, citing martial law. Russia considers Zelensky illegitimate and recognizes the parliament and its speaker as the only legitimate authority in Ukraine.
