Former top State Department official Victoria Nuland is back, and she's joining the stepped-up Ukrainian government efforts to convince Western allies, including the United States, to deepen their involvement in the war with Russia.
Nuland said a recent appearance on ABC News that the Biden administration should allow Ukraine forces to mount attacks directly on Russian territory with US-supplied missiles and weapons systems. "They need to be able to stop these Russian attacks that are coming from bases inside Russia," she said in the Sunday interview. "The United States and our allies ought to give them more help in hitting Russian bases, which heretofore we have not been willing to do."
Victoria Nuland calls for U.S. to bomb Russian targets within Russia:
— Truth In Media (@Truth_InMedia) May 21, 2024
“I think that if the attacks are coming from directly over the line in Russia then those targets ought to be fair game.” pic.twitter.com/94rkVzn3at
"Those bases ought to be fair game, whether they are where missiles are being launched from or where they are where troops are being supplied from," Nuland continued.
The Zelensky government has gotten more desperate of late as Ukrainian front lines are being quickly decimated in the Kharkiv region. Moscow's new offensive there has an aim to push Ukraine's border significantly back, in order to create a buffer zone to prevent cross-border shelling on Russian towns and cities, particularly in Belgorod.
Nuland claimed that Russia's goal in Kharkiv is to "decimate [the city] without ever having to put a boot on the ground" and further that Russian forces "have flattened a third of Kharkov" already.
She then argued in the interview that under such dire conditions, direct attacks on Russian bases with Western weapons systems should not ultimately be seen as an escalation.
But Russia starting weeks ago announced that it would hold nuclear drills involving strategic forces. This week these drills appear to be kicking off, clearly as a loud and clear warning directly signaled to NATO.
As for Nuland's fresh remarks, independent journalist Michael Tracey has best summarized her stance in saying...
"Queen of Darkness Victoria Nuland is back, demanding that the US openly facilitate strikes by Ukraine on targets inside Russia -- something the Biden Administration had previously insisted would never happen. A once-unfathomable escalation, which now barely raises an eyebrow."
