US Ambassador to Israel Thomas Nides on Tuesday expressed his disbelief and dismay at the situation unfolding in Ukraine and beyond.
Speaking at a Jewish People Policy Institute event in Jerusalem, Nides said: “This is a tragedy. Putin is a madman, and unfortunately, thousands of people could be killed. Hundreds of thousands of people have already fled, creating one of the largest refugee crises Europe has seen probably in 40 years, if not longer.”
Nides added that despite the US intelligence reports predicting the Russian invasion, “many of us believed an invasion would never happen.”
“I can’t describe what is unfolding before our eyes. I don’t think any of us had considered this, to be honest.”
“Europe and the world are coming together to show unity. If you had told me, or any of us in this room, that every one of our European colleagues would impose sanctions on Russia as they have done, at their own risk and expense, I don’t think we would have believed it. We could not imagine such a thing.”
Nides said that he has met with the Ukrainian ambassador to Israel several times in the past week and has had “hundreds of conversations” with Israeli officials about the crisis.
(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)
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2 Responses
Conservative journalist Ben Swann recently outlined three major reasons why the United States’ involvement in Ukraine led to the current conflict between Russia and the West. [He elaborated -on a recent video, search: him re: ‘how American involvement in Ukraine led to the current war’.] These sentiments are shared right now by many conservative thinkers around the US and the globe.
1. The US interfered with Ukraine’s democracy
“There is a lot going on in Ukraine that does not represent democracy. Opposition leaders have been arrested [and] three different opposition TV stations have been shut down.”
The U.S. got involved after the democratic election of former Ukrainian President Victor Yanukovych, which led to his overthrow in 2014. He explained, “The U.S. helped foment a color revolution in order to overthrow the democratically elected leadership of Ukraine … [and] installed a puppet leader who would represent the West.”
2. The US goaded Ukraine into ignoring the Minsk agreements
3. Not only does Russia perceive encirclement and efforts to undermine Russia’s influence in the region [if Ukraine were pushed to become part of NATO], but it also fears unpredictable and uncontrolled consequences – which would seriously affect Russian security interests.”
YWN buried the lede:
“U.S. Ambassador masterfully demonstrates incompetence in performance of his duties, inability to conduct his job.”