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Victoria Nuland

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Victoria Nuland
Official portrait, 2021
24th Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs
In office
May 3, 2021 – March 22, 2024
PresidentJoe Biden
Preceded byDavid Hale
Succeeded byJohn R. Bass (acting)
Acting United States Deputy Secretary of State
In office
July 29, 2023 – February 12, 2024
PresidentJoe Biden
Preceded byWendy Sherman
Succeeded byKurt M. Campbell
25th Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs
In office
September 18, 2013 – January 20, 2017
PresidentBarack Obama
DeputyJohn A. Heffern[1]
Preceded byPhilip H. Gordon
Succeeded byA. Wess Mitchell
22nd Spokesperson for the United States Department of State
In office
May 31, 2011 – April 5, 2013
PresidentBarack Obama
Preceded byPhilip Crowley
Succeeded byJen Psaki
20th United States Ambassador to NATO
In office
June 20, 2005 – May 2, 2008
PresidentGeorge W. Bush
Preceded byNicholas Burns
Succeeded byKurt Volker
Personal details
Born
Victoria Jane Nuland

(1961-07-01) July 1, 1961 (age 63)
New York City, New York, U.S.
SpouseRobert Kagan
Children2
EducationBrown University (BA)

Victoria Jane Nuland (born July 1, 1961) is an American diplomat who served as Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs from 2021 to 2024. A former member of the US Foreign Service, she served as Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs from 2013 to 2017 and the 18th U.S. ambassador to NATO from 2005 to 2008.[2][3] Between July 2023 and February 2024, Nuland served as acting deputy secretary of state following the retirement of Wendy Sherman.[4]

Nuland held the rank of career ambassador, the highest diplomatic rank in the U.S. Foreign Service.[5] She is the former CEO of the Center for a New American Security (CNAS), serving from January 2018 until early 2019, and is also the Brady-Johnson distinguished practitioner in grand strategy at Yale University and a member of the board of the National Endowment for Democracy. She served as a nonresident fellow in the Brookings Institution's[6] foreign policy program and senior counselor at the Albright Stonebridge Group.[7] On March 5, 2024, Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced that Nuland would retire "in the coming weeks".[8]

Early life and education

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Nuland was born in 1961 to Sherwin B. Nuland, a surgeon born to Eastern European Jewish immigrants from Bessarabia, then part of the Soviet Union, with the last name Nudelman,[9] and a Christian British native mother, Rhona McKhann, née Goulston.[failed verification][10] She graduated from Choate Rosemary Hall in 1979.[11] She has two younger half-siblings, Amelia and William.[12] She earned a bachelor of arts degree from Brown University in 1983, where she studied Russian literature, political science, and history.[13][14] She speaks Russian and French,[15] and a smattering of Chinese.[16]

Career

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Official portrait, 2005
Nuland, Hillary Clinton, Sergey Lavrov, Sergey Kislyak and Jake Sullivan in Washington, D.C., April 12, 2012
Nuland meeting with Georgian defense ministry leadership, December 6, 2013
John Kerry and Victoria Nuland with Ukrainian opposition leaders Poroshenko, Yatsenyuk and Klitschko, Munich, February 1, 2014

Nuland joined the State Department's Foreign Service in 1984.[17] She served in Guangzhou, China, from 1985 to 1986, in the State Department's Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs in 1987, and helped establish the first U.S. embassy in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, in 1988, where she served on the Soviet desk until 1990. From 1991 to 1993, she worked on Russian internal politics at the U.S. embassy in Moscow, focusing on Boris Yeltsin and his government.[18]

Clinton administration

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From 1993 to 1996, during Bill Clinton's presidency, Nuland was chief of staff to deputy secretary of state Strobe Talbott before moving on to serve as deputy director for former Soviet Union affairs.[19]

Bush administration

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From 2003 to 2005, Nuland served as the principal Deputy National Security Adviser to Vice President Dick Cheney,[20] exercising an influential role during the Iraq War.[citation needed] From 2005 to 2008, during President George W. Bush's second term, Nuland served as U.S. ambassador to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in Brussels, where she concentrated on mobilizing European support for the NATO intervention in Afghanistan.[21]

Obama administration

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In the summer of 2011, Nuland became special envoy for Conventional Armed Forces in Europe[22] and then became State Department spokesperson.[23]

In May 2013, Nuland was nominated to act as assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian affairs[24] and was sworn in on September 18, 2013.[25] In her role as assistant secretary, she managed diplomatic relations with fifty countries in Europe and Eurasia, as well as with NATO, the European Union and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.[citation needed]

Ukraine

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During the Maidan Uprising in Ukraine, Nuland made appearances supporting the Maidan protesters.[26] In December 2013, she said in a speech to the US–Ukraine Foundation that the U.S. had invested over $5 billion on democratic skills and institutions, civic participation, and good governance in Ukraine since 1991. She stated that these were preconditions for Ukraine to achieve its European aspirations.[27][26] The Russian government seized on this statement, claiming it was evidence the U.S. was orchestrating a color revolution.[26]

On February 4, 2014, a recording of a phone call between Nuland and U.S. ambassador to Ukraine Geoffrey Pyatt on January 28, 2014, was published on YouTube.[28][29][30][31][32][33] The call followed an offer made on January 25, 2014, by Ukrainian president Yanukovych to include two members of the opposition in his government to calm the Maidan protests in Ukraine, one being that of his prime minister.[34] Nuland and Pyatt voiced their opinions of this offer, specifically on the post of prime minister, giving their opinion of several opposition personalities. Nuland told Pyatt that Arseniy Yatsenyuk would be the best candidate to hold this post.[29][30] Nuland suggested the United Nations, rather than the European Union, should be involved in a full political solution, adding "fuck the EU". The following day, Christiane Wirtz, Deputy Government Spokesperson and Deputy Head of the Press and Information Office of the German Federal Government, stated that German Chancellor Angela Merkel termed Nuland's remark "absolutely unacceptable."[35] The president of the European Council, Herman Van Rompuy, condemned the remark as "unacceptable".[36][37] Department of State spokesperson Jen Psaki said the discussion was not evidence of any American plan to influence the political outcome, remarking that "It shouldn't be a surprise that at any point there have been discussions about recent events and offers and what is happening on the ground".[38]

Nuland was the lead U.S. point person for Ukraine's Revolution of Dignity, establishing loan guarantees to Ukraine, including a $1 billion loan guarantee in 2014, and the provisions of non-lethal assistance to the Ukrainian military and border guard.[39][40] Along with Secretary of State John Kerry and Secretary of Defense Ash Carter, she is seen as a leading supporter of defensive weapons delivery to Ukraine. In 2016, Nuland urged Ukraine to start prosecuting corrupt officials: "It's time to start locking up people who have ripped off the Ukrainian population for too long and it is time to eradicate the cancer of corruption".[41] While serving as the Department of State's lead diplomat on the Ukraine crisis, Nuland pushed European allies to take a harder line on Russian expansionism.[42]

During a June 7, 2016, Senate Foreign Relations Committee Hearing titled "Russian Violations of Borders, Treaties, and Human Rights", Nuland described U.S. diplomatic outreach to the former Soviet Union and efforts to build a constructive relationship with Russia. During her testimony, Nuland noted de facto 2014 Russian intervention of Ukraine which she said, "shattered any remaining illusions about this Kremlin's willingness to abide by international law or live by the rules of the institutions that Russia joined at the end of the Cold War."[43]

Outside of government, Trump administration

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Nuland left the State Department in January 2017, amid the departure of many other career officials during the early days of the Trump administration.[44]

On January 24, 2018, The Washington Post published an interview with Nuland where she opined on the work of President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. She described an exodus of career foreign service officials and dysfunction within the State Department, and stated that the American judiciary and media were under assault. Nuland also decried a trend towards American isolationism, stating: "When we withdraw and say it's every nation for itself, you open the door for countries dissatisfied with their territorial position and influence in the international system—or with the system itself." She encouraged whole-government responses to international issues, stating, "Military leaders would be the first to say military solutions alone result in more and longer military entanglements. The role of American diplomats and political leaders is to work concurrently with the military to bring to bear all of the political tools we have."[45]

In January 2018, the Trump administration began new high-level engagements with Russian government officials by scheduling a meeting between Russia's top general Valery Gerasimov and the NATO Supreme Allied Commander Europe, General Curtis Scaparrotti. Nuland stated, "These channels are especially vital at a time when relations at the leader level are so unpredictable." She said Scaparrotti was "uniquely positioned" to address concerns about Russia's "ongoing military role in Ukraine, its INF treaty violations, its active measures to undermine Transatlantic democracies and the other strategic tensions that are driving the US and its allies to take stronger deterrent measures."[46]

Biden administration

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Nuland with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy and U.S. secretary of state Antony Blinken, May 6, 2021

On January 5, 2021, it was reported that President-elect Joe Biden would nominate Nuland to serve as under secretary of state for political affairs under Antony Blinken, who had been nominated to serve as secretary of state.[3] Hearings on Nuland's nomination were held by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on April 15, 2021. The committee favorably reported Nuland's nomination on April 21, 2021. On April 29, 2021, her nomination was confirmed unanimously by the Senate by voice vote, and she started her work as under secretary of state on May 3, 2021.[47]

Nuland with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Secretary of State Blinken in Jerusalem, Israel, May 25, 2021

In July 2021, Nuland met with Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya in Washington.[48] In March 2022, Nuland expressed concern that Russia would get control of Ukraine's biological research facilities during its invasion of Ukraine.[49][50][51]

Nuland visited Delhi in March 2022 and suggested that there was an "evolution of thinking in India." She said that the US and Europe should be "defense and security partners" of India, and that Russia's invasion of Ukraine presents a "major inflection point in the autocratic-democratic struggle."[52]

At a congressional hearing in early 2023, Nuland stated regarding the 2022 Nord Stream pipeline sabotage, "I am, and I think the administration is, very gratified to know that Nord Stream 2 is now . . . a hunk of metal at the bottom of the sea."[53]

In a February 2024 interview with CNN's Christiane Amanpour, Nuland advocated for congressional approval of a $95.34 billion aid package, which is also designated for Ukraine, by delivering the following remarks: "We have to remember that the bulk of this money is going right back into the U.S., to make those weapons."[54]

On March 5, 2024, it was announced Nuland will retire that month. She had hoped to succeed Wendy Sherman as deputy secretary of state, but President Biden nominated Kurt M. Campbell to that position.[55][8]

Personal life

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Nuland's husband, Robert Kagan, is a historian, foreign policy commentator at the Brookings Institution, and co-founder in 1998 of the neoconservative Project for the New American Century (PNAC).[56] She has two children.[57]

She is sometimes informally known as Toria Nuland.[8][58]

References

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  1. ^ "Bureau Senior Officials". U.S. Department of State. Archived from the original on January 22, 2017. Retrieved November 28, 2015.
  2. ^ "Bureau of Public Affairs Front Office Changes". U.S. Department of State. Archived from the original on October 20, 2019. Retrieved May 25, 2019.
  3. ^ a b "Biden to tap more Obama vets to fill key national security roles". POLITICO. January 5, 2021. Archived from the original on January 5, 2021. Retrieved January 5, 2021.
  4. ^ "On the Retirement of Deputy Secretary Sherman". United States Department of State. Retrieved July 28, 2023.
  5. ^ "PN1907 - 2 nominees for Foreign Service, 114th Congress (2015-2016)". December 7, 2016. Archived from the original on October 20, 2019. Retrieved December 12, 2016.
  6. ^ "Victoria Nuland". April 2, 2019. Archived from the original on June 14, 2021. Retrieved January 8, 2018.
  7. ^ "Press Release: Victoria Nuland Rejoins ASG". Albright Stonebridge Group. April 18, 2019. Archived from the original on February 27, 2022. Retrieved April 30, 2019.
  8. ^ a b c Blinken, Antony J. (March 5, 2024). "On the Retirement of Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland". U.S. Department of State. Retrieved March 5, 2024.
  9. ^ "Sherwin Nuland – Physician – Why I Had to Change My Name". Web of Stories. Archived from the original on March 1, 2020. Retrieved January 26, 2022.
  10. ^ Victoria Nuland (1961–) Archived November 12, 2017, at the Wayback Machine, U.S. Department of State, Office of the Historian.
  11. ^ "Choate Notable Alumni". Choate Rosemary Hall. Archived from the original on January 21, 2021. Retrieved January 21, 2021.
  12. ^ Gellene, Denise (March 4, 2014). "Sherwin B. Nuland, Author of 'How We Die,' Is Dead at 83". The New York Times. Dr. Nuland's first marriage ended in divorce. In 1977, he married Sarah Peterson, an actress and director. Besides his wife, survivors include two children from his first marriage, Victoria Jane Nuland, the assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian affairs, and Andrew; two children from his second marriage, Amelia and William; and four grandchildren.
  13. ^ Schwartzapfel, Beth (April 2013). "ALUMS IN THE STATE DEPT: No Praying from the Podium". Brown Alumni Magazine. Archived from the original on August 26, 2018. Retrieved January 9, 2015.
  14. ^ Glaser, Susan (February 2018). "Victoria Nuland: The Full Transcript". Politico Magazine.
  15. ^ "U.S. Department of State Archive 2009-2017 - Victoria Nuland Biography". 2017.
  16. ^ "U.S. Department of State Archive 2001-2009- Victoria Nuland Biography". 2009.
  17. ^ "The Unconventional Diplomatic Career of Victoria Nuland". Washington International Diplomatic Academy. February 14, 2021.
  18. ^ Department Of State. The Office of Electronic Information, Bureau of Public Affairs. "Nuland, Victoria". 2001-2009.state.gov.
  19. ^ "Biden to name Sherman, Nuland to top diplomatic posts: sources". Reuters. January 5, 2021. Archived from the original on March 6, 2022. Retrieved January 11, 2021.
  20. ^ "Victoria Nuland". United States Department of State. Retrieved March 10, 2024.
  21. ^ "Victoria Nuland". Brookings. April 2, 2019. Archived from the original on June 14, 2021. Retrieved January 11, 2021.
  22. ^ "Ambassador Victoria Nuland". NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR DEMOCRACY. January 22, 2018. Archived from the original on April 30, 2021. Retrieved January 11, 2021.
  23. ^ "Victoria Nuland to be State Department spokesman". Foreign Policy. May 16, 2011. Archived from the original on June 27, 2012. Retrieved August 22, 2011.
  24. ^ "Obama nominates Nuland for assistant secretary of state". Politico. May 23, 2013. Archived from the original on April 18, 2015. Retrieved May 26, 2013.[1] Archived July 15, 2013, at the Wayback Machine
  25. ^ "Swearing-in Ceremony for Victoria Nuland as Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs". Archived from the original on January 24, 2022. Retrieved April 1, 2015.
  26. ^ a b c DeBenedictis, Kent (2022). Russian 'Hybrid Warfare' and the Annexation of Crimea. Bloomsbury Publishing. pp. 40–41.
  27. ^ "Victoria Nuland: Ukrainians Deserve For Respect From Their Government". YouTube. US-Ukraine Foundation. December 18, 2013. Retrieved April 6, 2024.
  28. ^ Re Post (February 4, 2014). "Марионетки Майдана" [Puppets in the Public Square (marionetke maidana)]. YouTube. Archived from the original on June 19, 2014. Retrieved June 19, 2014.
  29. ^ a b "Ukraine crisis: Transcript of leaked Nuland-Pyatt call", BBC News, February 7, 2014, archived from the original on July 1, 2018, retrieved October 9, 2014
  30. ^ a b Chiacu, Doina; Mohammed, Arshad (February 6, 2014). "Leaked audio reveals embarrassing U.S. exchange on Ukraine, EU". Reuters. Archived from the original on February 19, 2022. Retrieved May 19, 2014.
  31. ^ "BBC News - Victoria Nuland: Leaked phone call 'impressive tradecraft'". BBC Online. February 7, 2014. Archived from the original on September 30, 2016. Retrieved May 19, 2014.
  32. ^ Pilkington, Ed; Harding, Luke (February 7, 2014). "Angela Merkel: Victoria Nuland's remarks on EU are unacceptable". The Guardian. Archived from the original on April 5, 2014. Retrieved May 19, 2014.
  33. ^ Chiacu, Doina; Mohammed, Arshad (February 6, 2014). "Leaked audio reveals embarrassing U.S. exchange on Ukraine, EU". Reuters. Archived from the original on February 19, 2022. Retrieved July 5, 2021.
  34. ^ Walker, Shaun; Grytsenko, Oksana (January 25, 2014). "Ukrainian president offers surprise concessions as protests turn violent". The Observer. ISSN 0029-7712. Retrieved February 6, 2024.
  35. ^ Pilkington, Ed; Harding, Luke (February 7, 2014). "Angela Merkel: Victoria Nuland's remarks on EU are unacceptable". The Guardian. Archived from the original on April 5, 2014. Retrieved December 18, 2016.
  36. ^ "U.S. diplomat plays down leaked call; Germany's Merkel angry". Reuters. February 7, 2014. Archived from the original on March 8, 2021. Retrieved March 1, 2020.
  37. ^ Kauffmann, Sylvie (February 9, 2014), "Les cinq leçons du " fuck the EU ! " d'une diplomate américaine" [The five lessons of "fuck the EU" from an American diplomat], Le Monde, archived from the original on February 26, 2022, retrieved February 9, 2014
  38. ^ Gearan, Anne (February 6, 2014). "In recording of U.S. diplomat, blunt talk on Ukraine". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Archived from the original on May 10, 2015. Retrieved March 14, 2022.
  39. ^ "Nuland On Ukraine". Voice of America. March 17, 2015. Archived from the original on June 10, 2016. Retrieved May 20, 2016.
  40. ^ Victoria Nuland (March 4, 2015). "Testimony on Ukraine Before the House Foreign Affairs Committee". U.S. State Department. Archived from the original on October 20, 2019. Retrieved May 20, 2016.
  41. ^ Isabela Cocoli (April 27, 2016). "US Urges Ukraine to Jail Corrupt Officials". Voice of America. Archived from the original on June 10, 2016. Retrieved May 20, 2016.
  42. ^ "The Undiplomatic Diplomat". Foreign Policy. June 18, 2015. Archived from the original on February 10, 2022. Retrieved January 8, 2018.
  43. ^ Nuland, Victoria (June 7, 2016). "U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee Hearing Transcript of June 7, 2016" (PDF). www.senate.gov. Archived (PDF) from the original on May 14, 2017. Retrieved January 8, 2018.
  44. ^ Labott, Elise (January 27, 2017). "Trump administration asks top State Department officials to leave". CNN. Archived from the original on December 30, 2021. Retrieved January 27, 2017.
  45. ^ Rubin, Jennifer (January 24, 2018). "Opinion | A year of Trump foreign policy: More is broken than the State Department". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on January 25, 2018. Retrieved January 25, 2018.
  46. ^ Hudson, John (January 7, 2018). "Trump Administration Set for Broad Engagement with Russia in Early 2018". BuzzFeed. Archived from the original on February 25, 2018. Retrieved January 8, 2018.
  47. ^ "PN120 — Victoria Nuland — Department of State". U.S. Congress. Archived from the original on February 15, 2021. Retrieved February 14, 2021.
  48. ^ "On Washington visit, Belarus opposition leader asks U.S. for more help". Reuters.
  49. ^ "Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Testifies on Ukraine | C-SPAN.org". www.c-span.org. Archived from the original on May 12, 2022. Retrieved March 19, 2022.
  50. ^ "In Ukraine, US-military-linked labs could provide fodder for Russian disinformation". Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. March 9, 2022. Archived from the original on March 25, 2022. Retrieved March 28, 2022.
  51. ^ "Analysis | How the right embraced Russian disinformation about 'U.S. bioweapons labs' in Ukraine". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Archived from the original on June 8, 2022. Retrieved March 28, 2022.
  52. ^ "Ukraine: India 'feeling the heat' over neutrality". BBC News. March 25, 2022. Archived from the original on March 26, 2022. Retrieved March 28, 2022.
  53. ^ Mollier-Nielsen, Thomas (February 23, 2023). "EU dismisses report that US blew up Nord Stream pipeline as 'speculation'". The Brussels Times. Retrieved February 22, 2023.
  54. ^ We will 'tighten the noose' on Putin, vows US State Department's Victoria Nuland, CNN, February 23, 2024, retrieved February 27, 2024
  55. ^ Lee, Matthew (March 5, 2024). "Victoria Nuland, third-highest ranking US diplomat and critic of Russia's war in Ukraine, retiring". Associated Press. Retrieved March 5, 2024.
  56. ^ "Were 1998 Memos a Blueprint for War?". ABC News. Archived from the original on November 30, 2021. Retrieved January 10, 2021.
  57. ^ "Q&A Victoria Nuland". C-SPAN. June 15, 2006. Retrieved August 15, 2023. I have two kids. (52:02)
  58. ^ "Department Press Briefing – January 27, 2022". someone who is well known to all of you, Toria Nuland, our Assistant [Under] Secretary of State for Political Affairs.
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Diplomatic posts
Preceded by United States ambassador to NATO
2005–2008 		Succeeded by
Political offices
Preceded by Spokesperson for the United States Department of State
2011–2013 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs
2013–2017 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs
2021–2024 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Deputy Secretary of State
Acting
2023–2024 		Succeeded by
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