Two Biden Security Council Planners Admit They Could Have Avoided Ukraine War
Dec. 21—Two of the National Security Council planners in the 2021-2022 Biden administration, involved in pushing a proxy war with Russia in Ukraine were caught on videotape by the Russian pranksters “Vovan & Lexus.” The two planners thought they were talking with Igor Zhovkva, Deputy Head of Ukraine’s Office of the President. The pranksters released two videos, both of which are available on RT](https://www.rt.com/news/629298-biden-aide-ukraine-cheating/), exposing excellent examples of the phrase, “the banality of evil.”
Eric Green, the former Senior Director for Russia and Central Asia at the National Security Council, left government office and is now on the Board of Directors of Andrew Bain’s Ukrainian Freedom Foundation, where his biography says that “he helped craft the U.S. response to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine reporting to NSA Sullivan, Secretary of State Blinken, and President Biden.”
Green’s advice to “Zhovkva” was that Kiev should now craft a settlement that “contains enough ambiguity in it to allow Ukraine to do what it wants to do and has to do,” while allowing Russian President Vladimir Putin “to believe that he has accomplished something.” He told Vovan and Lexus that the 2015 Minsk Accord was a model because true negotiation was impossible, but a difficult military situation could be alleviated so as to fight another day. Minsk could be considered a success because it stopped Kiev from losing militarily, and then, in the following years, Ukraine was “able to do a lot of things with its military.” He added, half-kidding: “I didn’t say you should cheat on it. I said there should be ambiguity.”
At the same time, he wondered whether it could work a second time, since Putin’s objectives are so ambitious that it’s hard to see him accepting a lot less. He went on, explaining that the goal would be to “construct an end to the war that assumes that there will be another one,” because the way to prevent a war is to prepare for another one. Of course, it’s “non-negotiable” that Ukraine “has the ability to arm itself and to have a lot of friends who can help it.” This means having Western “reassurance” troops deployed in Ukraine. Otherwise, he thought that Zelenskyy had been “quite clever” with President Donald Trump by grabbing onto the “unconditional ceasefire” idea, so that Ukraine can be re-armed for the next round.
Green evinced nervousness when “Zhovkva” brought up the bombing of Nord Stream 2 pipeline. Green offers, with a smug laugh: “I think everyone wants to forget about Nord Stream 2.” But when “Zhovkva” says, “You guys made a great job,” Green simply acknowledges: “Right, right.”
The other planner, Amanda Sloat, who served under Biden as senior director for Europe at the NSC, admitted the Biden administration knew that there would have been no military action if Ukraine simply renounced NATO membership and returned to its pre-2014-coup position of neutrality. She said it was discussed, but “I was uncomfortable with the idea of the U.S. pushing Ukraine” into taking that path, she added, noting that it would amount to “implicitly giving Russia some sphere of influence or veto power” on Kyiv’s bid to join NATO. She then admitted, rather offhandedly, that it “certainly would have prevented the destruction and the loss of life.”
Russia’s lead negotiator with Washington, Kirill Dmitriev, commented on the revelations, saying on X that Biden’s “deep state PROVOKED a PREVENTABLE war.”