A former U.S. ambassador to Russia on Tuesday said Moscow is an “implacable adversary” of the U.S., and there “cannot be trust of any kind” with the Kremlin.
John Sullivan, who served in Moscow from 2020 to 2022, spoke to a Senate panel as it grapples with how to outgun the Russians on the diplomatic stage and revamp policies that failed to prevent the invasion of Ukraine or cripple Vladimir Putin’s economy as planned.
Mr. Sullivan said Mr. Putin will not negotiate an end to the Ukraine war short of victory on his terms, and the U.S. cannot request anything from Moscow and expect cooperation.
“The Reagan-era mantra of ‘trust, but verify’ is quaint and has no application now,” he told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. “There can be no trust, only verification and justice for Ukraine and the victims of Russian war crimes in Ukraine.”
Mr. Sullivan issued his stark warning amid a violent escalation in the Ukraine war and a Cold War-level deterioration in U.S.-Russia relations complicated by the detention of U.S. citizens such as Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich.
Russian authorities on Tuesday said they arrested Robert Shonov, a former employee of the U.S. Embassy, and charged him with conspiring with a foreign state or international organization, according to state media.
Mr. Shonov was detained in Vladivostok and questioned before being placed under arrest and sent to Lefortovo Prison in Moscow, the TASS Russian News Agency said. The report did not reveal Mr. Shonov’s nationality. He faces up to eight years in prison if convicted.
Committee Chairman Robert Menendez, New Jersey Democrat, said the detentions are part of a long list of worries as the U.S. reexamines its position versus Russia.
The West imposed harsh sanctions on Moscow, he said, “and yet, the Russian economy only shrank by 2% in 2022 and Russia has dramatically increased trade with other autocratic nations, including China and Iran.”
Mr. Menendez said the Russian Embassy in Washington is holding cocktail parties that draw in diplomats from Southern Hemisphere countries that then oppose or abstain from resolutions that support Ukraine.
The senator is also worried the U.S. is getting outgunned on the diplomatic stage by nations like China, which is cozying up to Moscow amid the war.
“China has more embassies, more personnel across the globe than we do,” Mr. Menendez said.
Mr. Sullivan said the U.S. should insist on reciprocity in diplomatic relations, pointing out that Russia has more diplomats in the U.S. than the Americans have on Russian soil.
Sen. James Risch, Idaho Republican, said the U.S. should also leverage general disgust with Russia’s actions among former Soviet countries in central Asia, known as the Stans.
“I was amazed at their lack of support for what Russia is doing,” Mr. Risch said. “They came to me, ‘Hey, we got nothing to do with this.’”
Mr. Sullivan said getting the Russian population to turn against the Kremlin will be more difficult, given tight government controls over the media and harsh penalties for dissent. He said there is also a culture of keeping their head down and doing what they must to survive.
He did say mounting casualties and economic impacts could cause unrest to bubble up from general society and cause problems for Mr. Putin.
Andrea Kendall-Taylor, a senior fellow and director for the Transatlantic Security Program at the Center for a New American Security, said Western sanctions are starting to slow down Russia’s military-industrial complex, but she added, “Going after energy, there is more we can do there.”
Senators said they need to improve bilateral relations with countries that are evading Russian sanctions and giving Moscow an economic lifeline.
“It’s labor intensive. We need to push the message out to all our posts worldwide,” Mr. Sullivan said.
Ms. Kendall-Taylor said the U.S. should use its diplomatic sway to wean India away from defense sales with Russia. President Biden is set to host Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi for a state visit in June.
The U.S. has seen progress in combating Russia by pushing Finland and Sweden to join NATO, though Ms. Kendall-Taylor said America should prepare for an aggressive response.
“Russia will be looking at an altered threat picture, and we should expect that over time they will increasingly take more aggressive steps up into that Arctic region,” she said. “The U.S. and particularly NATO are gonna need to be prepared.”
Source:Washington Times
