You're reading: Former Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch explains why US should support Ukraine

Marie Yovanovitch, the former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine who testified before Congress in the impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump, has offered a stirring defense of U.S. support for Ukraine.

Yovanovitch was removed from her ambassador post in May 2019 after a smear campaign spearheaded by Trump associates accused her of disloyalty to the U.S. president. She subsequently became a fellow at Georgetown University’s Institute for the Study of Diplomacy and retired from the U.S. Foreign Service in January.

On Feb. 13, she appeared before a packed hall at Georgetown to receive the university’s Trainor Award for diplomacy and delivered her first public remarks since her impeachment testimony. Her speech can be watched in its entirety from PBS.

During the speech and question session, Yovanovitch argued that the United States should continue supporting the Ukrainian government. This support is vital for both the U.S. and Ukraine, she said.

“Our support is Ukraine’s greatest strategic advantage and the Ukrainians know that, and so they are interested in continuing a strong relationship with us,” Yovanovitch said.

Yovanovitch noted that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had said in an interview with Time Magazine that he is not relying on any foreign country.

“In fact, I would say all countries can’t do it alone,” Yovanovitch said. “I don’t believe the U.S. with all of our advantages, all of our power and resources can go it alone for long and be successful.”

For this reason, the U.S. has built a network of alliances and partnerships, she said.

Ukraine is interested in having a strong and solid relationship with the U.S., and that relationship is also important for the U.S. because “Russians are testing us and we need to pass that test,” Yovanovitch said.

Yovanovitch also said that foreign policy is not a zero-sum game. She emphasized that the United States supported Europe, Japan and Korea after World War II, and now these countries are strong, prosperous and democratic allies of the U.S. Moreover, this support for Europe helped to provide the longest peace in all of the continent’s history.

“So I’m not really a big believer in zero-sum. I think that we need to work together with like-minded allies, perhaps not on every single issue, and, in the end, that’s better not only for them, but for us,” Yovanovitch said.

Yovanovitch compared Ukraine to the U.S. several decades after it declared independence. She noted that even Thomas Jefferson, the third U.S. president, wondered if the country would make it.

Ukraine and other post-Soviet countries are still in this predicament, unsure if they will make it, she said. Often, Washington wonders why crises — for example, Ukraine’s war with Russia — aren’t over yet and whether it needs to continue providing support.

“I think that…we need to stick with it. There needs to be more follow-through than perhaps there has been,” Yovanovitch said.