Top State Department Official Victoria Nuland Surprises with Sudden Retirement Announcement
A top State Department official, who was also a lead strategist shaping the Biden administration’s Ukraine policy, is leaving the administration.
Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland, America’s third-highest-ranking diplomat, will leave in the coming weeks, according to the Associated Press.
Nuland was Assistant Secretary of State for Europe during the administration of Barack Obama but retired after former President Donald Trump was elected.
Trump, she said later “was taking public positions that were antithetical to 30 years of work that I had done — everything from calling NATO obsolete to denying any Russian influence in the U.S. election,” according to NPR.
Nuland, a fierce critic of Russia, returned to the State Department in the Biden administration.
She had recently lost an internal duel for the post of deputy Secretary of State, AP reported.
In a statement, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Nuland “personified President Biden’s commitment to put diplomacy back at the center of our foreign policy and revitalize America’s global leadership at a crucial time for our nation and the world.”
“[H]er efforts have been indispensable to confronting Putin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, marshaling a global coalition to ensure his strategic failure, and helping Ukraine work toward the day when it will be able to stand strongly on its own feet — democratically, economically, and militarily,” Blinken said.
Critics were less glowing and linked her departure with failures related to the Biden administration’s policies in Ukraine.
In a clip posted to social media, commentator Jack Posobiec said Nuland was getting out while she could to save face.
“This is really bad for anybody who hooked their cart to the horse, the war horse, of Victoria Nuland. People need to understand that this is 100 percent … the rats fleeing the ship, ” he said.
.@JackPosobiec on Victoria Nuland: “She’s running to her bunker because she doesn’t want to be associated with the fallout that ensues from the Biden administration.” pic.twitter.com/9KW4DC1yCR
— Human Events (@HumanEvents) March 5, 2024
“She is leaving the Biden administration. She knows what’s coming,” he said, linking Nuland’s departure to the Supreme Court decision that allowed Trump to remain on the presidential ballot in Colorado.
“She’s not leaving the fight. She’s just going to ground. She’s running to her bunker because she doesn’t want to be associated with the fallout that ensues from the Biden administration’s slow slide into the grave,” he said.
Others also criticized her signature policies on Ukraine.
Victoria Nuland announced her retirement today…
Remember when she told CNN that the billions of dollars we send to Ukraine comes back to the US to make “good paying jobs” making weapons…
She’s one of the heads of the US-Ukraine money laundering scheme. pic.twitter.com/SFdgbWmG1A
— Tim Young (@TimRunsHisMouth) March 5, 2024
“Good riddance,” conservative commentator Lara Logan wrote on X.
“But people like this still need to be held accountable for the damage they have done. Nuland got innocent people killed in Ukraine when the Obama admin orchestrated a “color revolution”/coup. She was front & center handing out cookies,” Logan wrote.
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