YouSaid · the spoken record

Marie Yovanovitch

lines on the record: 72
first: 2022-03-24
most recent: 2022-03-24
sittings or episodes: 1
sources: podcast

Every line below is reproduced as it was said and linked to the record it came from. Nothing here is summarised or generated. Directory · Search · Corrections

“The short answer is yes, wars always end in some sort of a settlement. The question is, you know, is it a good settlement? Because we've all seen peace treaties that didn't actually satisfy the parties and so they go back to war. The other thing that you sort of alluded to, but just to make it clear, on the Russian side, whatever the terms are just has to be acceptable to one man. On the Ukrainian side, Ukraine, for all its faults, It's a democracy. And he, you know, he will have to present whatever that agreement is to the Ukrainian people. He's even said that they would have a referendum on it. I will just tell you that the Ukrainians I'm in touch with, there has been a hardening of attitude, as you would expect, when their children are being killed, when their grandparents are being killed. And so I think”
2022-03-24 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 482 — Amb. Marie Yovanovitch · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“And I would not want to get into a car that was serviced by a Ukrainian mechanic. The Ukrainians will resist, and in the end, the price will be too high for Russia, but it will come at a great price. I mean, the Ukrainians are paying in blood now, and I hope that they can prevail militarily so that we can get to the peace talks.”
2022-03-24 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 482 — Amb. Marie Yovanovitch · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“I don't see a way that Russia can win permanently. Russia, you know, so my hope is that the Ukrainians prevail militarily. And we're seeing some reason to hope. And we need to keep on helping them do that because this is a war of tyranny versus democracy. And if tyranny wins, if Russia wins, that will make it a more dangerous world for us. But just with regard to Ukraine, maybe Russia prevails militarily, but it will be an occupation because the Ukrainians will resist. There will be a guerrilla war, for sure, and there will be civil disobedience. Ukrainians have a lot of snipers, and they will get more. And I would not want to be the Russian occupier walking down a street. And I would not want to be a Russian soldier going into a cafe because I'm not sure what they'd be saying.”
2022-03-24 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 482 — Amb. Marie Yovanovitch · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Off the table. We see it as being that we are restrained and that we are trying not to broaden an already terrible war. I'm not sure that's how Putin sees it. I think that he is a man who only understands strength. And I think he sees that as perhaps weakness. And so there's a danger to taking action. But when dealing with somebody like Vladimir Putin, there's also a danger and a risk to not robustly responding to what he's doing. And if he's not stopped now, I think there'll be a little adjustment period and then he'll go for the rest of what he wants.”
2022-03-24 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 482 — Amb. Marie Yovanovitch · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Exactly. So I think it's possible. And I think the really tricky thing is there doesn't seem to be anybody around him who can reason with him. He's very successfully sort of gotten rid of anybody who could be a counter or could speak truth to power. And I think that is really worrisome because one of the things that while there was great risk in taking action, you know, possibly the Russians don't want a no-fly zone. And if we either instituted one or had helped the Ukrainians do that, would that be escalatory? Well, the first thing is Putin is the one who escalated. He's the one who has invaded, and we need to keep that in mind all the time. I'm not saying we need to institute them, but when we take options.”
2022-03-24 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 482 — Amb. Marie Yovanovitch · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Yeah, leveling cities, exactly. And killing civilians indiscriminately or discriminately. Will he use CW, BW chemical weapons, biological weapons? Would he use a nuclear, a tactical nuke? He doesn't seem to have any restraints on him in terms of what he wants to do. And as I'm sure you're aware, nuclear weapons are part of the Russian military doctrine. It's another one of the weapons that they can use if they need to use. You know, I think if they need to use or they feel they need to use it. And we just heard Cootin spokesperson, I think it was yesterday or the day before.”
2022-03-24 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 482 — Amb. Marie Yovanovitch · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Crisis, what more is the US going to do here? Can we open up the US to Ukrainian refugees and how can we support the countries in Europe that are absorbing some of these refugees, but also the far greater humanitarian crisis is right in Kiev, in Ukraine. And it's even harder to provide assistance there, but we really, really need to do it.”
2022-03-24 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 482 — Amb. Marie Yovanovitch · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“To show that solidarity, I think there's going to be, I'm guessing that they're going to look at force posture issues and perhaps continue to strengthen the eastern flank of NATO and Poland and the other littoral countries. And how do we continue to deter Russia? And there's been some hinting that they're going to be stronger sanctions deployed once again. I'm hoping that there will also be another package of security and other assistance for Ukraine because Ukraine is using what we've given them, what we sent them to good effect. And so even though we've given them a lot, we need to keep on backfilling because we need Ukraine to win. But the other thing that I hope will be addressed either in Brussels or when the president goes to Poland is the humanitarian issue, the refugee.”
2022-03-24 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 482 — Amb. Marie Yovanovitch · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“So, you know, these are the questions of the moment, aren't they? And I have to say that I'm grateful that Joe Biden is president because I think he has the right set of experience for this particular challenge. And he is restrained and mature and thoughtful about how we support Ukraine, deter Russia, but not we don't like go over a line that would broaden the war and that is a very narrow lane to try to navigate. And so far we've done it well, I think. And I think Europe agrees because Europe is following Biden's lead. So I think that's why this NATO meeting, and of course there's also a meeting with the European Council, with the G7, and then he's going on to Poland. That's why these meetings are so important. This is the world recognizing that we need to be together.”
2022-03-24 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 482 — Amb. Marie Yovanovitch · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Yeah, I mean, it's remarkable. He goes from being comedian to being president to being the Winston Churchill of our times. I think that he has captured the moment and the message and the substance of what needs to happen, what you need to be to be a wartime leader. He has shown unparalleled courage. And he is, in his communication, he's reflecting the spirit of the Ukrainian people, but he's also binding them together and giving them purpose and inspiring room as he is inspiring, frankly, all of us around the world. It's remarkable.”
2022-03-24 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 482 — Amb. Marie Yovanovitch · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“It gives me great concern, which is why I think, again, each one of us has to do what we can to strengthen our democracy. And I think part of that also is going to be the January 6th committee. I'm hoping that, I mean, I understand that they're going to have witnesses coming up in April. And I'm hoping that, you know, further shining the light on that conspiracy with regard to the elections and then the January 6th insurrection. I'm hoping that that will help to convince Republicans that they need to rethink their allegiance to the former president and to rethink their brand.”
2022-03-24 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 482 — Amb. Marie Yovanovitch · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Yeah. Well, it concerns the possibility concerns me. And I'll tell you, it concerns our allies as well. They don't want to go back to that. And, you know, imagine, you know, if Trump were president right now, how he would be leading the country and the world. I mean, he wouldn't be.”
2022-03-24 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 482 — Amb. Marie Yovanovitch · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Not really, because as we've alluded to, there's a very divided nation in Washington is very divided politically. And, you know, seeing the Republicans make excuses for President Trump basically selling out our national security, selling out his office for a personal political favor. I can't imagine if a Democrat had done the same thing that the Republicans would have been so forgiving. But I think it was all along party lines except in the end, Net Brown.”
2022-03-24 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 482 — Amb. Marie Yovanovitch · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Well, that I was stronger than I thought I was. And that there was going to be a future after the impeachment inquiry, you know, because it was hard for me to imagine that. And, you know, my therapist tried to get me imagining what would that look like? What would your world look like? Because, you know, after the spring, I thought, you know, am I ever even going to be able to get a job again? Am I employable? you know stronger and better than you know the original model that's what i got out of therapy”
2022-03-24 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 482 — Amb. Marie Yovanovitch · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Yeah. I mean, absolutely. And, you know, my mom, I took my mom to the emergency room two days after the transcript of the perfect phone call between Zelensky and Trump was released. One day after the whistleblower complaint came out. And the next day, you know, I took to the emergency ward. And she never came home. So yeah, I mean, I think there's a direct line. And when I asked the doctors, they, you know, they certainly were going to say it in those words, but they said, you know, yeah, stress does this to people.”
2022-03-24 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 482 — Amb. Marie Yovanovitch · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Well, you know, I mean, I wrote about it, but it's still really hard to talk about. But, you know, I really leaned on mostly my brother, but also other family and friends. And, you know, you do the best you can. I tried to compartmentalize a little bit, you know, try to be fully present for my mom when I was with her and fully present, you know, with all of those things that were going on with the impeachment inquiry. Yeah, it didn't feel like I was either being the kind of daughter I wanted to be or, you know, the kind of witness that I needed to be.”
2022-03-24 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 482 — Amb. Marie Yovanovitch · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Yeah, there's a so I am an optimist about America, but there is no question that we have a number of challenges in terms of our democracy. And we need to tend and defend it in order to preserve it. I mean, there's no question. And Trump, I hope was the culmination of that and that we're going to be turning around. But in terms of his scapegoating of minorities and other others in terms of the targeting of the media the way he did, the hollowing out of institutions that were serving him, there are many of the hallmarks of autocracy and we need each one of us needs to do our part to strengthen our democracy.”
2022-03-24 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 482 — Amb. Marie Yovanovitch · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Well, my physical reaction, according to somebody who was in the room with me, was that I went absolutely pale when I read it. Because, I mean, Trump had already had me fired and removed from my job as ambassador. I was under a cloud of these allegations by people around the president that I was corrupt, disloyal, et cetera. And now the president of the United States is saying that I'm going to go through some things. And I didn't know what that meant. But I knew it wasn't anything good. And I was imagining that, you know, maybe they were going to charge me with something. Maybe there was going to be an investigation. Because, I mean, what did it mean? Maybe they were going to take away my pension because I was talking about retiring at that time. So it was a frightening time.”
2022-03-24 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 482 — Amb. Marie Yovanovitch · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Yeah, it was Orwellian. I mean, every black was white. You know, everything was upside down. And I still tried to compartmentalize, you know, to do my job the way I was supposed to be doing it and hope that this other stuff was going to go away because there was no basis to it.”
2022-03-24 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 482 — Amb. Marie Yovanovitch · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“And I hear this from Washington. I had told Washington that the consular section had put a flag on this case because he was a prominent individual. But then this emerged, which was interesting to say the least.”
2022-03-24 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 482 — Amb. Marie Yovanovitch · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Just tried to compartmentalize and I just kept on hoping that it was going to go away because the official policy is what I was doing. The rest of it was a pack of lies. But when the Hill articles came out in mid-March, when President Trump retweeted it, when Fox News in a chorus kind of focused on me and the need to remove me, it was pretty clear. I mean, it felt like a campaign, and I think it was a campaign to get rid of me. Giuliani also had tried to get somebody into the United States, frankly on false pretenses, and he was a problematical person. And Giuliani in January 2019 went to the White House and said, you know, that Ambassador Ivanovich, she's stopping this guy from coming to the US because he's going to talk to me about corruption at the embassy, including her corruption.”
2022-03-24 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 482 — Amb. Marie Yovanovitch · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“He found that unfair and unwarranted on my part. And so he and, you know, Giuliani had this alliance where I think part of it for Lutsenko was getting rid of me and in return he did some interviews with The Hill cooking up all sorts of lies basically about me and throwing dirt on the Bidens.”
2022-03-24 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 482 — Amb. Marie Yovanovitch · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“He viewed me as an obstacle. He felt I was insufficiently supportive. He wanted to come to the US and meet with the Attorney General, head of the FBI, et cetera, et cetera. And I would say, what are you going to talk about? And, you know, Lutsenko, the prosecutor, who was very open that he wanted to run for president, and I think he wanted, you know, that photo of him with prominent Americans as kind of the seal of approval for his, I mean, that's, I imagine what he would have said for his campaign. You know, ambassadors are all about getting representatives of the country they're in, meetings in Washington, but we want them to be useful and actually move the dial. So he...”
2022-03-24 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 482 — Amb. Marie Yovanovitch · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Yeah. And so, you know, in the beginning, when I was people were whispering to me, and first it was just this miasma. I mean, it's like, oh my God, what's going on here? And then it became more and more specific. In February, and I would go back to Washington, but it was, you know, my part of Washington, the career people in Washington. And they're like, no worries. You're doing what we want you to do. Keep on going. And so that's what I did. And then in, um,”
2022-03-24 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 482 — Amb. Marie Yovanovitch · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“I think there's certainly the perception of a conflict of interest. I'm unaware of anything that would have needed an actual conflict of interest. But I also have not dug deeply into this issue.”
2022-03-24 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 482 — Amb. Marie Yovanovitch · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“In Ukraine. And the answer was, I would refer you to the vice president's office for that. So, you know, honestly, when I arrived in Ukraine, I was drinking from the fire hose. There were lots of big issues that I was dealing with. And perhaps incorrectly, I didn't think this was one that I was going to be diving into or needed to dive into. And then pretty quickly after that, of course, Biden was out of office. And so any conflict of interest or perception of conflict of interest presumably was past history. But then it all came roaring back when, as you noted, Biden started surfacing as a potential presidential opponent to President Trump.”
2022-03-24 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 482 — Amb. Marie Yovanovitch · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“I was aware of it because when I was preparing for my confirmation hearing, there was a question and answer, you know, what about Hunter Biden?”
2022-03-24 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 482 — Amb. Marie Yovanovitch · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Not at all. No, this was our official policy, and it was the official policy of the Ukrainian government too. you never eradicate corruption of course but you can try to manage it and hold people accountable but setting up the institutions that will help you do that and reforming other institutions I mean that is the work of generations so there was still a lot of work to do primarily by the ukrainians”
2022-03-24 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 482 — Amb. Marie Yovanovitch · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Well, I knew that Lutsenko wasn't happy with the US government and me as the emissary pushing on corruption and encouraging him to do reforms. He also had some other personal grudges against me. So I knew that what I didn't know, of course, is that Rudy Giuliani, former mayor of New York and the president's personal lawyer, was looking for dirt on Joe Biden and on his son Hunter.”
2022-03-24 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 482 — Amb. Marie Yovanovitch · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“He was a problem. He came into office promising to do several things that he would reform his. So the prosecutor is similar to our Attorney General, so a hugely important position. And it was riddled with corruption where you would pay a prosecutor in that domain to lose a court case against you. Or alternatively, if you have a business rivalry, you would pay a prosecutor to lodge a case against your business opponent. It was incredibly corrupt, and people wanted to put a stop to it. And he really made no progress on any of those issues. And we were working with him and trying to encourage him to do what he said from the outset he was going to do. Those were his goals.”
2022-03-24 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 482 — Amb. Marie Yovanovitch · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Was basically bullied by Putin into turning his back on the EU. And so a bunch of college students in November of 2013 went out to the square and demonstrated Yanukovych's forces cracked down. They called it the Revolution of Dignity because what they wanted was for each person in Ukraine to be treated with dignity, the same dignity you would treat a president. And what they meant by that is we want one rule, one law for everybody. So when President Porschenko was elected president in June, that was obviously a huge part of his plank and they asked not only us, but the rest of the international community, the international institutions, to help them fight corruption in governmental institutions and more broadly.”
2022-03-24 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 482 — Amb. Marie Yovanovitch · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Well, in 2014, before I went to Ukraine, there was an event called the Revolution of Dignity, which the idea that every, so it came about because President Yanukovych, who was the pro-Russian president.”
2022-03-24 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 482 — Amb. Marie Yovanovitch · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“He was so talented, both an artist and a poet that his freedom was bought and he became a free man. He was the first Ukrainian nationalist really. And he wrote this line in one of his poems where he said, fight on and you will prevail. And that is a line that every school child knows and every Ukrainian knows. And I think that's what we're seeing today.”
2022-03-24 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 482 — Amb. Marie Yovanovitch · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“He is targeting civilians and it's a war crime. And so I think we would do the same thing, but the Ukrainians are not going to stand for it and they're not going to let Vladimir Putin get away with it. They will resist. And they seem to be having some military success. And I hope that that will change the facts on the ground so that ultimately when there are the kind of negotiations that will have to take place to broker a ceasefire and hopefully a durable peace that the facts on the ground will be in favor of Ukraine. But the Ukrainians, they're like Americans in that they're really... And I'll just tell you one more thing. So in the 1800s, there was this poet called Taras Shevchenko. I mean, he was born a slave.”
2022-03-24 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 482 — Amb. Marie Yovanovitch · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Yeah, that is such a good question. And I think part of it is that the Russians have tried to repress them for centuries and they've always fought back. And now when they are so close to realizing their objectives of, and you know, when I say democracy or market economy, I mean, ordinary, you know, most people don't talk like that. What they say is, you know, I want a good job. I want prospects for my kids. I don't want to have to pay the policeman about to, you know, let me keep on going even though I haven't done anything. And so that's the terms that people use. And they're so close to getting there. And now Putin has invaded their country, invaded their homes, put targets on the backs of every Ukrainian, and is killing them. I would say indiscriminately, but it is discriminate.”
2022-03-24 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 482 — Amb. Marie Yovanovitch · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Yes, president of that time. Yeah, excuse me. And he was murdered. His headless body was found in the woods outside of Kyiv several months after he went missing. So there was a lot of hope because I think the Ukrainian people were organizing themselves to try to change the trajectory of their country. But there was also still some repression there. And there was certainly corruption. Although at that time, the US government was not focused on corruption in the way that I think we are now, in the way that we realize that corruption is really a cancer in a country and can undermine not only that country, but our own foreign policy goals. So those are some of the differences between feminine.”
2022-03-24 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 482 — Amb. Marie Yovanovitch · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“I really liked Ukraine. It's why I went back. It was the beginning of civil society and a free press. And people were outspoken about the need to reform and so forth. There was talk about corruption, not like there is now, but an enterprising young reporter, Georgi Gongadeze, was writing articles about President Kutra and his corruption.”
2022-03-24 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 482 — Amb. Marie Yovanovitch · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“With which he talked about rooting out basically fifth columnists, people who are seduced by the promises of the West, we know who those traitors are and we will get them. And it almost seemed like a dog whistle to other Russians to go after those people. And so I think he has quite created recreated the Soviet Union, but it's going in that direction very fast.”
2022-03-24 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 482 — Amb. Marie Yovanovitch · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“is you can be jailed for 15 years for saying that one word war. I think that, yeah, the last of the independent media has had to shut down in Russia. There's still internet. There's still ways for people to communicate and communicate the truth, but it's becoming harder and it's becoming more dangerous. And I think it was last week that Putin gave a speech that was, again, not different from what he has said in the past, but the passion and the fury.”
2022-03-24 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 482 — Amb. Marie Yovanovitch · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Think it's headed in that direction and moving by leaps and bounds. I think, you know, I mean, Putin in the early 2000s, he sidelined the oligarchs and made them, you know, pretty brutally jailing the one oligarch that stuck his head up and tried to get into politics. And the oligarchs have towed the line. He's eliminated his perceived political opponents and others, sometimes by assassination, sometimes by long jail terms. He has gone after the independent press and civil society brutally. And he was doing that, you know, in the 2000s and in the teens, but now it's on steroids. And we're seeing people carted off for just demonstrating against the war. And, you know, saying the word war about what is happening in Ukraine.”
2022-03-24 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 482 — Amb. Marie Yovanovitch · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“To justify it and to make it so, which is what he's doing in Ukraine now. I think that Vladimir Kotin also has agency. And he's taking those actions. And I think it's regardless of what NATO did in the 1990s.”
2022-03-24 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 482 — Amb. Marie Yovanovitch · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“You know, I think about it. I mean, I suppose that we could have, so the enlargement of NATO taking on additional members, that was demand driven. It's not like we went to Poland and said, hey, you know, we'd really like you to be a member. Poland came to us, as did other countries. So we could have said no. We could have said, we could have let NATO atrophy the mission was over, the Soviet Union was gone. But it's hard for me to imagine, honestly, that if I either those scenarios had taken place, that Vladimir Putin would have been a pussy cap. I think what we've seen in his writings and his actions over the last 30 or 20 years, that he has a philosophy. He has a belief in a certain kind of history, which is completely ahistorical. And he was ready to take action.”
2022-03-24 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 482 — Amb. Marie Yovanovitch · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“In the nineteen nineties and later on and does today. And I think that in the development of countries, it is usually that country itself, the various players and stakeholders that have the most agency in terms of how the country is going to develop. I think it's easy to point fingers, but I think we also need to look at what the Russians themselves are doing.”
2022-03-24 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 482 — Amb. Marie Yovanovitch · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Later on, Ukraine did. And so from my perspective, we were bending over backwards. The other part about the reform is that, yes, we were trying to help them with helping them develop a democracy, helping them with a market economy and so forth. But we were doing that because the Russians requested our assistance. It wasn't like we were imposing it on them. They wanted our help. And so we did the best that we could. help, you know, in order to help them. The last point I'd like to make on this is that when we look at world events, including the current crisis in Ukraine brought about by Vladimir Putin's war, I think we often in the US tend to look at it from a US point of view, understandably, but we're not the only actor out there. And Russians, Russia and the Russian leadership had agents.”
2022-03-24 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 482 — Amb. Marie Yovanovitch · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“So I've thought a lot about this because obviously it's been a point of discussion recently that is it our fault. And I would say a couple of things. Notwithstanding that I was really still quite, quite junior in the embassy. But from my perspective, what I saw was that the lion's share of the attention in every respect was going to Russia. We bent over backwards to include Russia in international institutions because we thought that if Russia was included and had a stake in the international system, it would be a better partner. Even to the point that we expanded the G7 to the G8 and NATO established a special partnership with Russia. No other country had that at the time.”
2022-03-24 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 482 — Amb. Marie Yovanovitch · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“People, it was very ugly. If you were a little bit better off, if you had some possibilities, it was a time of great opportunity, but many people really suffered.”
2022-03-24 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 482 — Amb. Marie Yovanovitch · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“So, as you said, when I was there before, it was still the Soviet Union. It was not a free country. It was the stereotype that one thinks of as a Soviet Union. There were lines to Baif, just as we're seeing now in Russia, actually. And, you know, fast forward to 1993, the Soviet Union fell apart in 1991. So I got there two years later. Yeltsin was the president of Russia. There was, you know, there was a lot more freedom. There was a lot more even though there was the economy was really struggling because they were in this mode of trying to reform the country away from the socialist, the communist economic system into a market economy, but they were in the middle of it. And, you know, they're trying to make these changes as they're flying the plane. It was, you know, for ordinary.”
2022-03-24 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 482 — Amb. Marie Yovanovitch · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Yeah, Pan Am 103, so that was day two or three when I started working directly for Ambassador Price. And, you know, he was a political animal, and he knew he had to get up to Lockerbie right away. And so he got the military, the U.S. military, to get him on a flight. And he flew up that night because he wanted to send a signal to the US, especially the families, that this was important and we were on it. He wanted to send that same message to the UK and also to the terrorists who had done this terrible deed, that we were going to follow up on this and we were going to bring them to justice.”
2022-03-24 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 482 — Amb. Marie Yovanovitch · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Well, Stap Assistant, a little less exalted. But that too was a great training grad for me because you know, I sat in a lot of his meetings, I read all the papers. In fact, I prepared the papers for him. And, you know, of course, the cables, the information from Washington and going from the embassy back to Washington. And that was a very important. Two strong allies completely different from what I had done in Mogadishu. Completely different.”
2022-03-24 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 482 — Amb. Marie Yovanovitch · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“And he's like, what's this? And of course, I'm the newbie. I had just arrived. I still had to, you know, get around Belinda with a map. And I said, this is your right, Mr. Ambassador. So he got it, you know, he loved it. And he got in and the driver didn't know where Winfield House was, the ambassador's residence. So I'm in the front seat sort of helping navigate. And yeah, so the rest was kind of history.”
2022-03-24 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 482 — Amb. Marie Yovanovitch · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source