The United States is much different from what it was in recent decades, and
Washington’s current policy course is characterized by eccentric decisions.

This opinion was expressed by Ambassador Michael Carpenter, US Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense (2015-17), US Ambassador to OSCE (2021-24), at the 17 th Annual Kyiv Security Forum “UA: UNITE AGAIN TO DEFEAT THE GLOBAL
AGGRESSOR”, organized by the Arseniy Yatsenyuk Foundation “Open Ukraine”.

“The current administration perceives the EU as a strategic rival, and Putin as a
“good guy”, and this attitude overturns all American diplomacy. Look at the vote at
the UN – it’s a disgrace. They voted with North Korea. They imposed tariffs on
almost every country except Russia. They put pressure on Ukraine, but they didn’t
put any pressure on Russia,” Michael Carpenter expressed his indignation.

Nowadays, according to him, Europe must increase its defense production and carry out the necessary reforms.

“Europeans have long known that reforms were needed, that capital alliances had
needed to invest in technologies and defense. And now it is the time to ‘seize the bull by the horns’ and implement all these changes to make Europe more competitive,” he noted.

“We need to implement fundamental reforms to help Ukraine defeat Russia, because no one else can do it,” the Ambassador emphasized.

The Kyiv Security Forum, founded by Arseniy Yatsenyuk’s “Open Ukraine”
foundation, is the main platform of our state for discussing the problems of war and peace, national and world security.