Veronika Krasheninnikova
“Cadres decide everything” at all times. The previous material was devoted to the Polish-American project “Intermarium” and the Washington personnel who are implementing it together with Poland. The imperial ambition of building a “great power” from the Baltic to the Black Sea came into full resonance with the interests of the United States: to constantly press and irritate Russia from the West with zealous Polish hands. The first on the pa-th of integration is Ukraine – more precisely, the part that will not go to Russia. In Warsaw, American interests are being pursued by one of the most competent and motivated specialists, Mark Brzezinski, son of the pillar of the Eastern European lobby in the US security apparatus, Nation-al Security Adviser under Carter Zbigniew Brzezinski.
And who is working with him in a pair in Kiev ? Today, the functionality of the American ambassador to Ukraine consists of a host of exciting creative tasks: direct management of the presidential office and the security apparatus of Ukraine, including infiltrated American and NATO personnel; ensuring coordination, together with the military attache, of the actions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and Western advisers, the supply of weapons and the campaign to increase these supplies, as well as many other things. Among the bosses in Washington issuing strategy is Deputy Secretary of State Victoria Nuland, the lady with the buns on the Maidan in December 2013, an important member of the military-political “headquarters” in Ukraine.
American cadres abroad are functional. Departments consistently form a set of competencies of their employees in order to then send this “combat kit” to where there is a task for it.
Especially for this functionality, on April 25, the White House nominated Bridget Brink, at that time ambassador to Slovakia, for the post of US Ambassador to Ukraine. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said Brink has “deep experience in the region.” The ambassador’s candidacy was approved unanimously by the Senate, a rare occurrence, and Brink arrived in Kyiv on May 29.
Let’s see what Ambassador Brink’s “profound experience in the region” is and what she can do. From the page of the US Embassy in Ukraine, a blonde in classic pearls with a snow-white Ameri-can smile looks at us with a sharp look. The official biography says that before the post in Slovakia, Brink was in charge of Eastern Europe, the Caucasus, and protracted conflicts in Eur-ope in the State Department in 2015-2018. Explanation: in American practice, “issues of conflicts” mean not only and not so much their resolution, but their creation and management. In Ambassador Brink’s list of competencies, check the box next to “conflict management.”
Brink previously served as Deputy Chief of Mission at the US Embassies in Tbilisi (2011-2014) and Tashkent (2014-2015). Explanation: The post of Deputy Chief of Mission, or DCM for short, is most often held by cadres of the Central Intelligence Ag-ency. We add to the list of competencies the presumed affiliation to non-diplomatic services – along with the skills and goal-setting that such affiliation brings.
In addition to the State Department, Ms. Brink served on the National Security Council, where she was Director for the A-egean and South Caucasus from 2009-2010. Prior to that, in 2008-2009, again at the State Department, she dealt with the affairs of Southern Europe, Cyprus and others. And she began her career in Belgrade in 1997-1999, when preparations were underway for NATO bombing. During periods of active action, the employees of the US Embassy, each at their post, participate in the preparation and conduct of these actions – they are there exactly for this.
Let’s look at other options for the biography of Madam Ambassador – for example, an earlier one, for 2015-2016, on the archived part of the State Department website. And inside almost the same text we find another fragment: Brink worked in Tbilisi as the head of the political and economic department in 2005-2008 – in the process of preparing Georgia ‘s military attack on South Ossetia on August 8, 2008. Ay-yai-yai, how did the authors of the biography on the website of the embassy in Ukraine miss such an important fact?
Thus, a qualified specialist with experience in preparing military operations, coups and protracted conflicts – territorially in the Balkans, the Caucasus, Eastern Europe and the Mediterranean – has been appointed to the post of US ambassador in Kiev. The integration of regional competencies is also important – for the United States, all these regions are connected. With such competencies, Ambassador Brink will coordinate the actions of US special agencies and NATO forces against Ru-ssia in Ukraine – and do this together with Ambassador Brzezinski in Warsaw.
The next personnel question: if the post of deputy head of mission often belongs to the special services, who holds it today? Meet Alan Purcell.
He has also been acting ambassador since May 2021. That is, it was Purcell who carried out all the American actions in Ukraine in the last year. His biography on the website of the US Embassy in Ukraine is extremely laconic. And he appeared in the press only a few times a year: here he is talking to US Air Force Major General David Tabor, head of Special Operations Command in Europe, before a low-altitude flight over Kiev on August 25, 2021; photo courtesy of the Military Visual Information Distribution Service.
However, a little more information about Purcell remained on the website of the US Consulate in Ber-muda, where he ended up before his appointment to Kiev in January-May 2021. We learn that Mr. Purcell’s life path includes several positions in the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor in the State Department. The bureau with such a wonderful name in terms of its functionality participates in the organization of “colored” and other coups, finances and oversees the National Endowment for Democracy (the first organization recognized as “undesirable” in Russia in 2015). This visit to Kiev is the second for Purcell: he was a political adviser in Ukraine in 2014-2017, immediately after the return of Crimea and the militarization of the conflict in Donbass.
We learn with even greater interest that Mr. Purcell dealt specifically with security issues: as deputy director of the Office for the Caucasus and Regional Conflicts in 2011-2013. And, even hotter, was Regional Counter Terror-ism Coordinator for the Ea-stern Mediterranean, based in Athens from 2008-2011.
And the world is small, isn’t it? – In 2006-2008, Alan Purcell is responsible for political issues in Tbilisi. Yes, in anticipation of the August 8th attack. And yes, he’s under Bridget Brink. Of course, this is not a small world, this is a sensible personnel policy.
Purcell managed to serve both in Moldova (2002-2004) and in Belarus (2004-2006). But it is still curious: what did he do as and. about. consul general in Bermuda, which fall out of the logic of his service? Moreover, Purcell spent, we repeat, only four months there, in January-May 2021, with the stated goal of ensuring “the protection of US citizens and the deepening of economic and cultural ties between the US and Bermuda.” Usually the consul general meets with business, with the public, takes pictures with local kids. We look for such news in the local press, but we find only a photo and the headline “Acting US Consul visited NASA tracking station “. And a meeting via video link with the Prime Minister of Bermuda. All.
And here, perhaps, the main news about Alan Purcell. Two weeks ago, on June 3, it was announced that he was sent as an ambassador to Armenia. Hold on, Armenian brothers: a major specialist in regional conflicts and the fight against terrorism, with deep experience in the Caucasus and the Mediterranean, where Turkey is, is coming to you.
What happened before Purcell? After all, there were, probably, normal, cl-assical diplomats in Ukrai-ne? In the previous two ye-ars, since May 2019, Ch-ristina Quinn served as A-mbassador and also served as Deputy Head of Mission. I hate to upset you, but Ms. Quinn is a graduate of the US Army War College with a master’s degree in strategic studies. Her track reco-rd includes the post of director for the European Union, Ukraine and Belar-us at the National Security Council, the embassy in Moscow in the mid-2000s, as well as Brussels, London, Bangkok, Manila.
But when was there a full-fledged ambassador in Ukraine, and not. about.? It turns out that the post of US ambassador to Kyiv officially remained vacant for three long years. The vacuum was formed after Trump unceremoniously removed Marie Yovanovitch from this position in 2019 : she did not try to please him. And for a year, the White House could not get the Senate to approve the amb-assadorial candidate – Tru-mp chose a retired three-star general, Keith Dayton, with a background in intelligence and security. To the Democrats in the Senate, such a choice, apparently, seemed too frank and provocative. Recall that it was Donald Trump who in 2017 allowed the supply of lethal weapons to Ukraine – the administration of Barack Obama had abstained before him.
And before Mrs. Yovanovitch, the US ambassador was Geoffrey Pyatt – he accompanied Victoria Nuland during the famous visit with buns to the Maidan. Of course, he played a key coordinating role in organizing the armed coup d’état in 2013-2014. From Kyiv in 2015, Pyatt moved to Athens – and there he actually ruled the country. One of the most aggressive and effective personnel in the State Department, Pyatt now oversees energy issues, and in this position, with particular zeal, is pushing Russian energy resources out of world markets.
These are the “diplomats” Washington has sent to Ukraine in recent years. Such personnel composition shows that special and military competencies were the main requirements for the leadership of the embassy in Kyiv. After the start of Russia’s military operation in Ukraine, many details were published about how American troops trained Ukrainians, including neo-Nazi units, in combat tactics.
The new Ambassador Brink has all the knowledge and skills to coordinate actions in the current situation and within the framework of a low-intensity conflict, into which an active phase of hostilities can turn.
