Former U.S. Ambassador To Ukraine Analyzes Putin's Invasion Intentions

By Katie Nielsen, CBS San Francisco:

SAN FRANCISCO (KPIX) — As the Russian military continues its assault on Ukraine, the former U.S. ambassador to that country spoke with KPIX to talk about his take on the escalating situation.

“What the Russians are doing now, this is the largest or potentially the largest land war in Europe since World War II,” said Steven Pifer, who is William J. Perry Fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies at Stanford University. He was also the U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine from 1998 to 2000. He says the conflict goes back to the fall of the Soviet Union when Ukraine was recognized as a separate country from Russia.

“Ukraine is succeeding. It has democratic traditions now. If it gets the economy right, Russians are going to start asking ‘Why can’t we have the same political voice that people in Ukraine have?’” Pifer explained.

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