In an Aug. 5 confirmation hearing in the U.S. Senate, nominated ambassador to Ukraine Keith Dayton showed vocal support for extending military aid to the country and for its anti-corruption effort, drawing generally favorable feedback from pro-Ukrainian lawmakers.
Moreover, in response to voiced concerns, he vowed to report to Congress any attempts to use Ukraine to interfere in U.S. elections.
“I have any indication that there is any kind of election interference going on using Ukraine as a lever to do that, I would of course report that,” Dayton said answering questions from the Senate Foreign Relations Committee during a nomination hearing on Aug. 6.
If approved by the Senate, Dayton, a retired army lieutenant general, will be the first U.S. ambassador to Ukraine since Marie Yovanovitch. Trump fired Yovanovitch in May 2019 after a smear campaign against her by Trump’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani and his associates.
That effort to remove Yovanovitch was a key subject in Trump’s impeachment hearings. Trump was impeached by the House of Representatives for attempting to withhold vital military assistance to Ukraine in exchange for its investigation of former Vice President Joe Biden, Trump’s Democratic rival in the 2020 presidential election. Trump was then acquitted by the Senate.
At the nomination hearing, Dayton was pressed by Bob Menendez, Democratic senator of New Jersey, on whether Trump was right to withhold military assistance to Ukraine in 2019 for more than a month. Dayton proved to be evasive.
“I’m not sure what the exact circumstances were on that. I was in Ukraine at the time, and I was not aware that this affected any of our efforts that we dealt with on Ukraine at the time,” said Dayton, who has served as the senior U.S. defense advisor to Ukraine.
Menendez also asked whether Dayton would commit to refusing a meeting with Giuliani and his associates. But Dayton would not commit, saying that as ambassador he would be oblige to meet with any U.S. citizen.
Chris Murphy, Democratic senator of Connecticut, then asked Dayton whether it would be appropriate for the ambassador to Ukraine to meet any representatives of the president’s or his opponent’s election efforts, particularly months prior to the Nov. 3 presidential election.
“It would depend on what their agenda is … If they’re there for very partisan purposes – of course not … The U.S. ambassador should not be advancing the interests of either of the parties just before the presidential election,” Dayton said.
In his opening statement, Dayton, who currently heads the George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies in Germany, also outlined his policy towards Ukraine.
“If confirmed, I look forward to … continue our strong bipartisan support for the Ukrainian people, enhance our already deep bilateral relationship, support Ukraine’s reform agenda, counter Russian malign influence, and work to fully restore sovereignty and territorial integrity,” Dayton said.
When Trump fired Yovanovitch, the U.S. had two charge d’affaires in Ukraine – William B. Taylor and Kristina Kvien, who took over as head of the mission after Taylor left in January. Dayton said, that as the new ambassador, he will take a “very serious” effort to help Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky root out corruption.
“We’ve gone over a year without a U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, and I really do think that a U.S. senior presence will help President Zelensky deal with some of these issues,” he said.
More defense aid
Much of the committee hearing touched upon probably the most important aspect of U.S.-Ukraine relations, the military assistance for deterring Russia’s aggression in Donbas and Crimea.
Due to Dayton’s profound military background, senators during the discussion referred to the retired U.S. Army general as a “star” that could easily find a common language with the Ukrainian military.
In this domain, Dayton demonstrated his total accordance with existing policies, namely providing Kyiv with modern defensive capabilities, including lethal weaponry, and helping it resurrect and modernize its Armed Forces.
According to Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, the amount of U.S. military assistance rendered to the country since 2014 has already gone beyond $2 billion. As recently as in late July, the U.S. Senate rolled out a bill stating that the Ukraine defense aid is increased to $300 million in the next financial year.
Upon that Dayton asserted he fully advocated the extending, including in terms of advanced equipment and lethal weapons, referring to it as “a very good idea” and something he supported “wholeheartedly” — specifically since he served as Senior Defense Advisor on Ukraine and had a chance to inquire into the matter.
In the same manner, the candidate endorsed the Senate’s initiative to formulate a long-lasting strategy of assisting Ukraine.
When asked what aspects of Ukraine’s defense sector needed to be amplified with U.S. aid, Dayton pointed out to the navy, which is still extremely weak following the loss of Crimea to Russia, and also to the Air Force, the aircraft fleet of which is quickly approaching its total obsolescence.
“Those are the two sectors that need the most work,” Dayton told senators.
“And we are already working on that. Largely through the generosity of the (Foreign Relations) committee and the U.S. Senate, the Ukrainians have the ability now to deal with some of the things in coastal patrol, maritime domain awareness, that are very important.”
“The Black Sea in my view will become an increasingly important area for all of us to be looking at strategically.”
Dayton offered a rather strong reaction to a bold statement by Russian lawmaker Leonid Kalashnikov, who on July 31 asserted that since the U.S. was increasing its military aid to Ukraine, Russia might initiate “official” weapon supplies to occupied Donbas.
Dayton said Russia in reality continues maintaining and commanding a 23,000-strong militant force in the region, which operates over 400 tanks, 700 artillery pieces, as well as mortars, drones, and many other weapons directly provided by Russia.
“This is ridiculous,” he said referring to Kalashnikov’s statement.
“As if they are not involved. Before the conflict started, (militants in Donbas) had nothing, and the Ukrainian military had it all. And right now this is a pretty formidable force that’s facing Ukrainian military. And they are indeed led and accompanied by Russian active-duty troops.”
