Former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine speaks virtually at Bush School about war with Russia

COLLEGE STATION, Texas (KBTX) - As the war in Ukraine continues, the Bush School of Government and Public Service at Texas A&M hosted a virtual discussion with former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine William Taylor to provide his insight on the conflict.

Taylor serves as the U.S. ambassador to Ukraine under three different presidents, first from 2006 to 2009, then again as acting ambassador from 2019 to 2020. Over 400 people joined a virtual event to hear his views and expertise on the conflict in the country where he once served as a top diplomat.

Taylor spoke for about half an hour before taking questions from those in attendance. He covered a wide range of topics, discussing the goals and movement of the Russian military forces to Ukraine’s decision to give up their nuclear weapons after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

As he moved from topic to topic, he said he was impressed with the resolve of the Ukrainian military, which has been fighting Russian forces since they invaded Crimea in 2014.

“The expectations was that from enormous overmatch of Russians against the Ukrainian military, they’d be in Kyiv in a day and a half or two days max, and here we are 13 days out,” Taylor said.

President Biden and NATO recently decided not to enforce a no-fly zone over Ukraine to keep the Russian air force from dominating the skies. Taylor says it puts the West in a tough position in terms of getting directly involved in the conflict.

“You can’t allow the Russians to establish air defense on the ground to be able to shoot down either Ukrainian or NATO aircraft, so you have to take out that, and that is an act of war,” Taylor said.

Taylor says he’s heard lots of questions asking why Americans should care about this war. He says it’s about defending democracy.

“Ukraine is defending us as well, and we should support them because they are on the front line of their fight that they didn’t pick, the front line of Europe, and the front line of democrats against autocrats,” Taylor said. “This is an important fight, and I believe that we should support them.”

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