Herbst: White House may tighten policy toward Ukraine after November 5 elections
Joe Biden's administration may toughen its policy toward Ukraine after the November 5 election, including inviting it to join NATO and launching long-range strikes against Russia, but the White House needs more courage to do so.
This opinion was expressed in an interview with Ukrinform by John Herbst, former US Ambassador to Ukraine and Director of the Atlantic Council's Eurasia Center.
“I think it can, and we've already heard some talk about it,” the former diplomat said in response to a question about whether the White House could change its approach to the Ukrainian issue after the US elections.
However, according to him, there are no signs that things are moving in this direction. In this regard, he criticized the current administration for its indecision and lack of decisions, particularly in response to the DPRK's deployment of troops to Russia, as well as against the backdrop of Russia's provocations to violate NATO airspace. Herbst emphasized that this is a problem for US national security.
When asked to comment on what Ukraine could do to be invited to join NATO, Herbst said that Ukrainians need to continue fighting the way they have been fighting. At the same time, the United States, he said, should “find the wisdom and courage”.
As Ukrinform previously reported, inviting Ukraine to join NATO and allowing it to use Western long-range weapons against targets deep in Russia are included in the Victory Plan presented by President Zelensky earlier this month. These two points in particular have been supported by a significant number of Ukraine's partners, but have not yet received a positive response from some countries, including the United States and Germany.