Admission by U.S. Ambassador(former): Russia responding to "years" of "hostile" US policy

“Now, how would [we] Americans feel if
some Russian or Chinese or even West European started putting [military] bases in
Mexico or in the Caribbean, or trying to form governments that were
hostile to us?

-Quote from Democracy Now interview with former, our own former U.S. ambassador ,JACK MATLOCK JR., extended quote:

“I think that what we have seen is a reaction,
in many respects, to a long history of what the Russian government, the
Russian president and many of the Russian people—most of them—feel has
been a pattern of American activity that has been hostile to Russia..

They feel that having thrown off communism, having dispensed with the Soviet Empire, that the
U.S. systematically, from the time it started expanding NATO to the
east, without them, and then using NATO to carry out what they consider
offensive actions about an—against another country—in this case,
Serbia—a country which had not attacked any NATO member, and then
detached territory from it—this is very relevant now to what we’re
seeing happening in Crimea—and then continued to place [military] bases in these
countries, to move closer and closer to borders, and then to talk of
taking Ukraine, most of whose people didn’t want to be a member of
NATO, into NATO, and Georgia. Now, this began an intrusion into an area
which the Russians are very sensitive. Now, how would Americans feel if
some Russian or Chinese or even West European started putting bases in
Mexico or in the Caribbean, or trying to form governments that were
hostile to us? You know, we saw how we virtually went ballistic over
Cuba. And I think that we have not been very attentive to what it takes
to have a harmonious relationship with Russia.

 

FULLER:

http://www.democracynow.org/2014/3/20/fmr_us_ambassador_behind_crimea_crisis

Thu Mar 20, 2014

Former U.S. Ambassador: Behind Crimea Crisis, Russia Responding to Years of
“Hostile” U.S. Policy

The standoff over Ukraine and the fate of Crimea has sparked the worst
East-West crisis since the end of the Cold War. The U.S. has imposed
sanctions on top Russian officials while announcing new military
exercises in Baltic states. Meanwhile in Moscow, the Russian government
says it is considering changing its stance on Iran’s nuclear talks in
response to newly imposed U.S. sanctions. As tensions rise, we are
joined by Jack Matlock, who served as the last U.S. ambassador to the
Soviet Union. Matlock argues that Russian President Vladimir Putin is
acting in response to years of perceived hostility from the U.S., from
the eastward expansion of NATO to the bombing of Serbia to the
expansion of American military bases in eastern Europe.

JUAN GONZÁLEZ: The Ukrainian government has announced plans to abandon
its military bases in Crimea and evacuate its forces following Russia’s
decision to annex the region. Earlier today, Russian forces reportedly
released the commander of the Ukrainian Navy, who has been seized in
his own headquarters in Crimea. At the United Nations, ambassadors
sparred over the situation in Crimea. Yuriy Sergeyev is the Ukrainian
ambassador to the U.N.

| YURIY SERGEYEV: [I am a part of a government that grabbed power by
| FORCE AND VIOLENCE to remove the democratically elected president of
| Ukraine. Now listen to my vertion of the "truth" about Russia] The
| declaration of independence by the Crimean Republic is a direct
| consequence of the application of the use of force and threats against
| Ukraine by the Russian Federation, and, in view of Russian nuclear
| power status, has a particularly dangerous character for Ukraine’s
| independence and territorial integrity, as well as for international
| peace and security in general.  Accordingly, I assert that on the
| basis of customary norms and international law, that the international
| community is obliged not to recognize Crimea as a subject of
| international law or any situation, treaty or agreement that may be
| arise or be achieved by this territory.

JUAN GONZÁLEZ: Russia’s ambassador to the United Nations, Vitaly
Churkin, defended Moscow’s move to annex Crimea.

| VITALY CHURKIN: [translated] A historic injustice has been righted,
| which resulted from the arbitrary actions of the leader of the
| U.S.S.R. at the time, Nikita Khrushchev, who, with the stroke of a
| pen in 1954, in violation of the constitutional norms, transferred
| the Russian region of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol to the
| Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, which was part of the same
| state then. And he did this without informing the population of
| Crimea and, of course, without their consent. And nobody cared about
| the views of the Crimeans.

AMY GOODMAN: Meanwhile, on Wednesday, the U.S. Navy warship, the
Truxtun, a U.S. guided-missile destroyer, conducted a one-day military
exercise in the Black Sea with the Bulgarian and Romanian navies. And
Vice President Joe Biden has been meeting this week with the heads of
states of Poland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, promising Washington
would protect them from any Russian aggression. On Wednesday, President
Obama addressed the crisis during an interview with NBC 7 San Diego.

| PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: We are not going to be getting into a
| military excursion in Ukraine. What we are going to do is mobilize
| all of our diplomatic resources to make sure that we’ve got a strong
| international coalition that sends a clear message, which is: The
| Ukraine should decide their own destiny. Russia, right now, is
| violating international law and the sovereignty of another country.
| You know, might doesn’t make right. And, you know, we are going to
| continue to ratchet up the pressure on Russia as it continues down
| its current course.

AMY GOODMAN: To talk more about the growing crisis in Ukraine, we’re
joined by Ambassador Jack Matlock. He served as U.S. ambassador to
Moscow from 1987 to 1991. He’s the author of several books, including
Reagan and Gorbachev: How the Cold War Ended. He recently wrote a
column for The Washington Post headlined “The U.S. Has Treated Russia
Like a Loser Since the End of the Cold War.”

Ambassador Matlock, welcome to Democracy Now! Talk about the situation
right now, what has just taken place, Ukraine now pulling out of
Crimea.

JACK MATLOCK JR.: Well, I think that what we have seen is a reaction,
in many respects, to a long history of what the Russian government, the
Russian president and many of the Russian people—most of them—feel has
been a pattern of American activity that has been hostile to Russia and
has simply disregarded their national interests. They feel that having
thrown off communism, having dispensed with the Soviet Empire, that the
U.S. systematically, from the time it started expanding NATO to the
east, without them, and then using NATO to carry out what they consider
offensive actions about an—against another country—in this case,
Serbia—a country which had not attacked any NATO member, and then
detached territory from it—this is very relevant now to what we’re
seeing happening in Crimea—and then continued to place bases in these
countries, to move closer and closer to borders, and then to talk of
taking Ukraine, most of whose people didn’t want to be a member of
NATO, into NATO, and Georgia. Now, this began an intrusion into an area
which the Russians are very sensitive. Now, how would Americans feel if
some Russian or Chinese or even West European started putting bases in
Mexico or in the Caribbean, or trying to form governments that were
hostile to us? You know, we saw how we virtually went ballistic over
Cuba. And I think that we have not been very attentive to what it takes
to have a harmonious relationship with Russia.

 

watch video, or read transcript of rest of the interview:

http://www.democracynow.org/2014/3/20/fmr_us_ambassador_behind_crimea_crisis