A leading opponent of Russian foreign policy is stepping down from President Joe Biden’s State Department. Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced Tuesday that Victoria Nuland is leaving her role as undersecretary of state for political affairs.
The announcement came as the Ukraine war with Russia recently entered its third year.
Nuland is the third-highest ranking Biden diplomat and a lightning rod for criticism. She strongly opposes Russian President Vladimir Putin and the Kremlin for the invasion of Ukraine.
Bannon has a message for Victoria Nuland:
"Preserve your documents. Lawyer up because we are coming for you. You are the fountain head of everything about this Ukraine situation." pic.twitter.com/JsCuiHNqtV
— Citizen Free Press (@CitizenFreePres) March 5, 2024
Blinken’s statement credited Nuland for placing “diplomacy back at the center of our foreign policy” and strengthening the nation’s “global leadership at a crucial time for our nation and the world.”
The secretary of state commended her controversial accomplishments concerning Ukraine.
He called her efforts “indispensable to confronting Putin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.” Blinken said the undersecretary pushed the country toward a place where Kyiv will be able to “democratically, economically and militarily” support itself.
Nuland previously served as Assistant Secretary of State for Europe under the Obama White House but resigned when Trump took office.
She then resurfaced under the Biden administration.
Former Secretary of State John Kerry recalled when Nuland left her job as State Department spokesperson to serve as a diplomat to Europe. He was congratulated by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov for “getting rid of that woman.”
The former presidential candidate said he retorted that he “promoted her.”
Nuland was highly critical of Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014. This of course drew the ire of the Kremlin as she became the diplomatic face of U.S. opposition.
She returned to that role in the last two years as a sharp critic of Moscow’s foreign policy. Some conservatives blamed her for Washington’s aggressive backing of Ukraine in the ongoing war.
American Conservative magazine columnist Daniel Larison labeled her a “combative liberal hawk.” He noted she “exemplified the heedless and arrogant foreign policy worldview that she championed.
The president asked John Bass to stand in as Nuland’s replacement until a new undersecretary is confirmed. He served as U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan during Biden’s tragic and embarrassing withdrawal from the war torn country.
