Nuland convinced of Ukraine's success in countering Russian aggression

That’s according to Nuland’s interview with Politico, seen by Ukrinform.

Answering the question: "Can Ukraine win a war against Russia? And what do you define winning?", Nuland noted: "Let’s start with the fact that Putin has already failed in his objective. He wanted to flatten Ukraine. He wanted to ensure that they had no sovereignty, independence, agency, no democratic future."

"Can Ukraine succeed? Absolutely. Can Ukraine come out of this more sovereign, more economically independent, stronger, more European than it is now? Absolutely. And I think it will," she continued.

For this to happen, however, Nuland says the West has to “stay with it."

The United States should speed up the implementation of a range of initiatives in Ukraine, including on building a highly deterrent military force of the future, deploying long-range weapons "to strategic effect", ensuring the protection of critical infrastructure, strengthening the U.S. and allies’ defense industrial base, "so that we and Ukraine are building faster than Russia and China."

When asked if Ukraine could take back all of its territory, including Crimea, Nuland said: " It can definitely get to a place where it’s strong enough, I believe, and where Putin is stymied enough to go to the negotiating table from a position of strength."

According to Nuland, "it’ll be up to the Ukrainian people what their territorial ambitions should be."

At the same time, any agreement should be such that Putin is compelled to abide by it, she added. "It has to actually lead to a deal that includes Russian withdrawal," the diplomat clarified.

According to her, this should be an agreement that guarantees that "whatever is decided on Crimea, it can’t be remilitarized such that it’s a dagger at the heart of the center of Ukraine."

Commenting on the possibility of negotiations back in the fall of 2022, Nuland noted that at that time "they (Ukrainians) were not in a strong enough position then."

"They’re not in a strong enough position now," she added.

In her opinion, the only agreement that Putin could conclude then and now, at least before he sees the outcome of the U.S. election, is "a deal in which he says, ‘What’s mine is mine and what’s yours is negotiable.’ And that’s not sustainable."

Nuland, who has always been a consistent supporter of Ukraine, resigned from the position of U.S. underSecretary of State for Political Affairs in early March 2024.