Damon Wilson
Since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, our state has become a symbol of freedom. Our military people fight for every Ukrainian, every centimeter of Ukrainian land, and civilians help in everything to bring victory over the Kremlin occupiers closer. And in this we are supported by the world. Western countries provide us with assistance: from economic to military. Citizens of neighboring countries accept those who were forced to leave Ukraine. The world has united, which has not happened for a long time.
How does the West see the end of Russia’s war against Ukraine and how will our state be restored? Will Ukraine become a member of NATO? Will Putin resort to the use of nuclear weapons? President and CEO of the National American Endowment for Democracy, senior adviser of the American-Ukrainian Business Council DAMON WILSON .
– The world sees the horrendous crimes committed by Russian troops against the civilian population, sees missile attacks on infrastructure facilities. It hurts us and I think that this pain will never go away. Can you talk about your first reaction when you realized that the war had begun, and how do you feel now?
– I came to Kyiv because it is the capital of the free world and the frontier of freedom. It is here that the future of freedom is determined, and for the American Endowment for Democracy, there is no more important struggle yet. That is why we are here to emphasize our full support – of American civil society and the American people – to the Ukrainian people.
I really love your country and have been here many times. My father lived in Nemirov. But what I felt on the night of the attack is not comparable to what my Ukrainian friends experienced. We were all at the conference in Miami, along with my Ukrainian friends, friends from Moldova and the whole region. We are here for our annual strategy session discussing how the US could better support the countries of Eastern Europe and Ukraine in particular.
We were together when the full-scale attack began. On the one hand, I felt pain, longing, shock, but I was not surprised. Because I know that too often the West has underestimated Vladimir Putin. He often threatened, and we heard it, but often did not want to listen.
– I know that the National Endowment for Democracy started supporting Ukrainian civil society back in 1988. Ukraine continues to be in your top five largest programs in the world. And we understand this because Ukraine today remains at the forefront of freedom. Can you tell us about the main tasks of the foundation of our country right now?
– Even before the split of the Soviet Union, we believed in the freedom of the enslaved peoples. Therefore, we have been in Ukraine for a long time, supporting Ukrainian civil society and Ukrainian media. Our largest programs are in closed society places such as Russia, China and Cuba. But our biggest free country program is the Ukrainian program. This is the fourth largest program that we are actively developing.
We support more than 100 partners across the country who are involved in civil society or are independent media. We also supported partners – Belarusians, Russians, immigrants from Central Asia, for whom work in Ukraine was a safe haven, which emphasized the freedom of this country.
Now we see these partners doing amazing things. The history of Ukraine’s survival is that ordinary people, ordinary Ukrainians do amazing things. Putin did not count on this, it stopped the Russian army. And our partners are now focusing on the military effort, helping Ukraine win.
They document war crimes, engage in international advocacy, serving as the voice of Ukraine in the international arena. They respond to urgent requests for humanitarian assistance. Our partners are now on the rear front helping Ukraine to resist.
– Recently you met with the mayor of Kyiv Vitali Klitschko. How was the meeting and what was your decision?
– Yes, I met with Mayor Klitschko. We have known each other for a very long time, even before he entered politics. I also had the opportunity to meet with Andriy Yermak at the Office of the President, with the Vice Prime Minister and other Ukrainian government members, Foreign Minister Kuleba and all our partners who are now here in Ukraine. The political leadership played a significant role: both the mayor, who helped inspire the people, and President Zelensky, who inspired the whole world.
Young women became active and led a significant part of international advocacy, became the voice of civil society. Ukraine’s elected leadership, from the highest levels and mayors to ordinary people representing Ukraine on the international stage, has mobilized the American people and inspired Americans with what they see here in Ukraine. I met with Mayor Sadov in Lvov, Mayor Klitschko in Kyiv. We want to support civil society organizations that can work with cities and government to help Ukraine become a democratic superpower and recover even stronger. These organizations help Ukraine win the war, stay in touch with the occupied territories while they wait for liberation. And then they will help build the future of Ukraine. We talked about these issues with the mayor and others.
“We see the Russian invasion of Ukraine damaging our infrastructure at a cost of about $4.5 billion a week. Is it possible to restore Ukraine through loans and grants from transnational organizations and direct assistance from other countries? How will it be?
– Yes, there are efforts to help Ukraine win the war. But there will also be support for the restoration of Ukraine, and it will not only be about resuming what is already there.
In this tragedy, there is a prospect for Ukraine to become stronger. I hear similar opinions from my partners. If an old apartment building was destroyed, it is necessary to rebuild not the same house, but to do something better and safer for the citizens of this country so that they can return home, work and live here in safety. So that they can have jobs in a dynamic, competitive economy. There is the rule of law, there are things that help society flourish.
Therefore, I hear a lot from Ukrainian officials, as well as from Ukrainian civil society, that Ukraine can become stronger and emerge from this war not just as a center of freedom, but as a democratic superpower, demonstrating the resilience and strength of democracy.
It’s hard now. We must focus our attention on the Ukrainians who are still dying today. We see what is happening in Mariupol, we have seen rocket attacks on Lviv and the whole country. This will not end quickly, but the idea that Ukraine will be an even stronger, maximally prosperous democratic country that is in the center of Europe, and not in its vicinity, is an incredible idea and vision that I hear from many Ukrainians. This vision will help Ukraine get much more support from the international community. Ukraine itself will lead this process.
Ukraine has shown the world that it knows what is best for it, and also that it has often been underestimated by the international community. But I think that this is what will encourage international institutions, allied and friendly states, as well as private structures like our organization, to take on more powerful financial obligations to Ukraine for the sake of its future.
– Most of the funding must be received as reparations from the aggressor, including funds that are now frozen in allied countries. What can you say now about Russian reparations?
– This is a really important part of the development of events. Some of these ideas seemed impossible even three months ago. And now they are possible because the Ukrainian people have inspired Americans and other countries, thereby moving our politics. Now we have made more progress in the fight against corruption, kleptocracy since the beginning of this war than in the last 5 years. This is because people have seen what is at stake in Ukraine. Now the arrest of part of the funds of Russia, the oligarchs, things acquired by them through corruption, is already possible.
There is a strong argument that I support in favor of using these funds to finance the reconstruction of Ukraine. This is necessary to receive reparations – the justice that the Ukrainian people deserve.
Vladimir Putin will not sign the document on reparations. This is one of the reasons why Ukraine’s unconditional victory is so important. But the work of Ukrainian human rights activists is also important, who carry out active advocacy work in Washington, Warsaw, Berlin, London, Paris, Frankfurt, noting that the seized funds should be directed to reparations for Ukraine.
It is very important that the Ukrainian people receive justice. And this is one way to achieve this. The innovative ideas we hear from Ukrainian human rights defenders and NGOs encourage the UN and financial institutions to do more on this front.
– Ukraine is not a member of NATO. The Alliance cannot be on the defensive of the country, because NATO fears that if their troops clash with Russian forces in Ukraine, this could lead to an all-out conflict between Russia and the West. What can you say about NATO’s relationship with Ukraine today, and is the West doing enough to contain Putin?
– You know, I have long supported the desire of Ukraine to join NATO and supported it when I was still working in the US Government and the National Security Council at the White House. I think perhaps the trajectory of history could have been different if we had succeeded at the Bucharest summit in 2008. I am deeply convinced that Ukraine is part of the Euro-Atlantic family and should be part of the Euro-Atlantic institutions.
Today, there is concern about avoiding a direct confrontation between NATO and Russia. But on the other hand, in order to avoid escalation, we must show strength. We must show that we are ready to do everything to support Ukraine.
Broadcasting weakness or lack of support for Ukraine only encourages Putin. He sees vulnerability and weakness. So, oddly enough, people who are concerned about escalation in the West should understand that the best way to avoid escalation is to do everything possible to help Ukraine win this war and achieve peace. Now this is an important conclusion for the world.
– As someone who helped shape the US national security strategy and policy towards NATO and US-EU relations to advance freedom and security around the world, will Ukraine join NATO?
– I believe that someday we will see Ukraine in NATO. Personally, I will not rest until I see the Ukrainian flag over the NATO headquarters in Belgium. We now see that Ukraine has a sense of freedom. Throughout Ukrainian history, Ukrainians have again and again, usually underestimated, determined the course of their country’s history. Let’s remember Stalin’s attempt to destroy the people of Ukraine, the Holodomor, and how Ukrainian identity survived and flourished. Now we see how Ukraine is shaping its identity.
We saw the Ukrainian voters crush the Soviet Union in 1991. We saw the Orange Revolution in 2004 and also the Revolution of Dignity in 2014. Each time the Ukrainian people demonstrated that they would determine their own future.
What do we see today? The Ukrainian army is stronger than almost all the armies of the NATO countries. We see that the Ukrainian people are more resilient than many others in Europe. Ukraine has so much to offer that we can learn.
Only Ukrainians fought with Russians. The US military will learn from them. And I think that the sense of freedom and determination of the Ukrainian people in determining their future are really important parts of this equation. This is something that Vladimir Putin did not think through. Perhaps Western leaders also do not fully understand how decisively Ukraine will shape its own future.
– We see that the European Union is proposing to ban all oil imports from Russia until the end of this year and withdraw the country’s largest bank, Sberbank, from the SWIFT international payment system. Is this realistic and can we expect a strategic failure of the Russians soon: military, political and economic?
– This is real. The West is mobilizing, cutting off the money going to finance the war and Putin’s bloody plans. And I am very pleased to see that Europe is making these decisions. We all want this to happen faster and on a larger scale, but all such decisions are very important and will have an impact. It is a question and a problem of time.
It is hard to imagine what will happen in Russia. They still have reserves to survive. In a certain sense, Russia’s richest people and Vladimir Putin will not suffer very much. Putin will inflict this suffering on his people.
We cannot assume what will happen. But we know that unless there is a clear victory for Ukraine and a strategic defeat for Russia, we will probably see a continuation after some time. I think we must understand the need for decisive action on the part of Europe and other countries, especially with regard to measures to stop the financing of the war. If the conflict is not decisively stopped now, it will go on and on.
– Earlier, US President Joe Biden agreed to a meeting with the head of the Kremlin, Vladimir Putin, but if the Russian Federation fulfills one of the conditions – de-escalation and readiness to take the path of diplomacy. Do you think we can expect diplomatic solutions from Russia?
– I don’t think it will be easy. Everyone who has been in diplomacy and negotiations with Putin’s Russia understands that they often blow smoke in their eyes, hide information, doing very different things. I think that here we need to follow the example of Ukraine. We should trust Ukraine’s leadership. She is negotiating with the Russians. Ukraine is smart enough and understands that this is not an easy task.
There will be no easy deal to end this war. The end of the war will come thanks to the strength of the Ukrainian people, through a Ukrainian victory, which will create the conditions for the end of the war.
We all want human suffering to end. A lot of people died. The world saw the price Ukrainians paid. The war must end. But we must follow Ukraine in this matter. The end of the war should mean the final cessation of Russia’s attempts to undermine the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine. We cannot conclude a truce agreement that will allow this war to resume in six months. We must be open to negotiations, but not naive.
“It hurts a lot when you tell the Russians about the truth in Ukraine, about what is happening, and they say it’s not true. When you see the dead, when you see the destroyed infrastructure, when you see Russian soldiers… The Russians do not understand this and do not believe it. What can you say about Putin’s entourage, about these people?
– Yes, it is unthinkable that the Russian propaganda machine was able to brainwash so many people, was able to create an information environment in which people are so strongly manipulated. Part of this is Putin himself and his entourage. They show fascist tendencies. I saw these trends when I worked in Rwanda and the Balkans. And to see that these tendencies are demonstrated by a person with such power and such an arsenal is scary.
Historical amnesia, manipulation of facts, attempts to erase the identity of Ukrainians is the starting point leading to genocide, dehumanization of people. When dehumanization happens, what we saw in Bucha happens.
And yes, there are war criminals running a military coven in the Kremlin. But we must also keep Russia and its people informed as much as possible. We are trying to ensure that Russians have access to truthful information about events in Ukraine.
– Russia has warned that the risk of nuclear war is now considerable due to the fact that Western countries continue to supply Ukraine with weapons. Is nuclear war possible?
– I have learned to never underestimate Vladimir Putin. We must understand this. Many Ukrainians did not believe that he would attack Ukraine, despite the large amount of intelligence confirming his intentions, and he did.
On the one hand, the Russians want to use the fear of nuclear weapons to intimidate the West, to stop Western aid to Ukraine. But the only way to avoid escalation is to show strength and help Ukraine stop this war. If we want to prevent the use of tactical nuclear weapons, we must not give in. The offender must be stopped.
Yes, this is indeed a dangerous time. Nobody wants Ukraine to suffer even more. But we know that as long as Russia does not give up its intentions regarding Ukraine, anything is possible.