WASHINGTON, October 7 (RIA Novosti) - US Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Victoria Nuland's visit to the Ukrainian capital Kiev indicates that Washington is worried that the Ukrainian government is hesitating to gain control over the country's East militarily, Professor Emeritus of Sociology at Binghamton University in New York James Petras has told RIA Novosti.
"Nuland, who is considered by most experts in the United States a neo-conservative extremist, was the architect of the coup [in Ukraine]. Since the stalemate has taken place, Washington has increased its flow of advisors to western Ukraine and I think that Nuland is particularly anxious to shift Kiev from diplomacy to warfare", Petras said Monday.
He also noted that Nuland's main goal in Kiev is "to take [Ukrainian President] Mr. [Petro] Poroshenko to task for spending so much time talking and not as much time planning and strategizing for a new phase in the military dimensions of the conflict."
The expert went further by arguing that the militarization of foreign policy has become the principle strategy of Washington.
In addition, Professor Petras stated that the United States is offering Kiev very limited economic aid and is particularly interested in privatization of the Ukrainian economy.
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and US Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland have discussed the implementation of the Minsk agreements, aimed at resolving the situation in southeastern Ukraine, the Ukrainian president's official website reported Monday.
The September 5 meeting of the Contact Group of Ukraine resulted in a ceasefire agreement between the Ukrainian government and pro-independence forces, which came into force that same day. The sides agreed on a nine-point memorandum, specifying the implementation of the ceasefire during another meeting of the group.
