One of the most recognizable Russia hawks in Washington D.C., Victoria Nuland, is leaving the Biden White House at a critical moment for the Ukraine war.
A fixture in Washington's foreign policy establishment, Nuland is perhaps best known for her activities under President Obama during the 2014 Ukraine revolution, which led to accusations that she helped orchestrate a coup in Kyiv.
Nuland leaves as the third-highest ranking diplomat in the U.S.
She served every president from George W. Bush to Joe Biden, with the notable exception of President Trump.
In recent years, Nuland's aggressive foreign policy led some to criticize her as the face of an overextended, meddling liberal empire.
Nuland faced particularly notable backlash in 2014, over her role in the Maidan protests against Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych.
The diplomat raised eyebrows over a leaked phone call in which she bluntly stated "f--k the EU" over the European Union's lukewarm backing of the Maidan movement.
Nuland, who was then Assistant Secretary of State for Europe, also casually described her preferences in leaders for a new Ukrainian government.
The comments have been cited as evidence that the Maidan protests, rather than an independent democratic movement in Ukraine, were engineered by the Obama administration. The Kremlin cheered the news of Nuland's resignation, citing her departure as proof that the Biden administration's "anti-Russian" foreign policy is failing.
"Russophobia, proposed by Victoria Nuland as the main foreign policy concept of the United States, is dragging the Democrats to the bottom like a stone," Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.
Meanwhile, Secretary of State Antony Blinken cheered Nuland as a champion of "democracy" and human rights.
“Her efforts have been indispensable to confronting Putin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, marshaling a global coalition to ensure his strategic failure, and helping Ukraine work toward the day when it will be able to stand strongly on its own feet – democratically, economically, and militarily," he said.
Nuland's departure comes as Washington remains divided over sending additional aid to Ukraine, with rising domestic concern over illegal immigration taking center stage.
The Biden administration and Ukraine backers in both parties have warned that "democracy" is at risk without additional U.S. funding.
