Should Ukraine get ready? Nuland, included in the Russian blacklist, went to Moscow
Washington and Moscow are agreeing on the possibility of a visit to Russia by US Deputy Secretary of State for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland, who became famous for distributing cookies to Kyiv Maidan protesters.
The PolitNavigator correspondent reports this, Kommersant writes, citing informed sources in Moscow and Washington.
“The visit is being discussed. Possibly November, but this is not certain yet. It hasn’t come to any specifics about the interlocutors yet,” the source said in Washington.
Russian diplomatic sources also say that the visit is tentatively planned for November. Most likely, Deputy Foreign Ministers Sergei Ryabkov and Andrei Rudenko will meet with Nuland. The first oversees relations with the United States in the department, and the second oversees the entire post-Soviet space, including Ukraine.
Some of the interlocutors in Moscow do not rule out that Nuland may also have contact with the current curator of the Ukrainian direction (and the entire post-Soviet space) in the Kremlin - Deputy Head of the Presidential Administration Dmitry Kozak.
Sources also believe that Ukraine, if Nuland’s visit takes place, could become one of the main topics at meetings in Moscow.
At the same time, the current deputy head of the State Department is included in the Russian blacklist, compiled in response to the introduction of personal visa and financial sanctions by the United States against Russian officials, which led to the refusal of a visa in 2019.
In turn, answering the question whether Nuland’s presence on the blacklist would interfere with the visit, a source in the government agencies of the Russian Federation noted:
“A one-time exception can be made for a person on the blacklist, but on the principle of reciprocity. The automatic withdrawal does not apply to an official visit.”
A former American diplomat well acquainted with Nuland, who asked that his name not be used, told the publication that if her visit to Russia takes place, it would be a good sign - in line with the commitment to cooperation between the two countries where possible, outlined by Presidents Joe Biden and Vladimir Putin in Geneva.
“Biden would like to park the relationship with Russia somewhere, place it somewhere where the Russian problem will not come out and distract him from more important matters like climate change and the fight with China. For him, the post-Soviet space is a source of problems and constant friction with Moscow, so he wants to have delineated “red lines” here. To do this, you need to have people who can decide something themselves or quickly reach the presidential level,” comments Carnegie Moscow Center expert Alexander Gabuev on the possible visit.
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