Julianne Smith, the US ambassador to NATO, discussed Russia’s alleged shift in focus with CNN’s Dana Bash on Sunday’s State of the Union.
Smith said she doesn’t believe “we already have evidence” that the Kremlin will narrow its view of the Donbass region, but that the US and its allies will look for it.
“But what we have evidence of is that the Russians did not achieve their original objective. And that, as you know, took Kyiv in just a few days,” she said. “For this reason I think Russia is reassessing and they have indicated that they will change their tactics, but let’s give it some time. Over the next few days, the United States is working closely with allies and the Ukrainian government will be looking for evidence of this shift,” Smith added.
Smith also defended new measures put in place by NATO and the US to continue punishing Russia after the US president’s trip, even as Ukrainian officials have expressed disappointment at the lack of support. Asked if NATO would provide fighter jets to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Smith said “this is an evolving conversation,” but ultimately no.
“We have spoken to President Zelensky many times over the past few weeks. We heard their requests for support. In many cases we have delivered these anti-aircraft and anti-tank capabilities, we are assessing their air defense needs,” she said. “But the answer is no, if you ask about the Soviet-era jets, the United States has decided that Poland’s special proposal is untenable. But frankly, if any NATO ally wanted to supply that kind of equipment, the fighter jets, the MiGs, that’s a sovereign choice, they can make that sovereign choice. But right now, the United States is very focused on its air defense needs. And we’re providing multiple capabilities to meet those needs.”
Regarding the possibility of including cyberattacks in the NATO charter, Smith declined to “run through hypotheses,” but said she had no doubt that if an ally “stepped forward” and invoked Article 5, the alliance would would be “ready” to react and act.”