Former Ambassador Steven Pifer reflects on the Russian invasion agains Ukraine
From Krynytsya (The Well), your wellspring for Ukraine and Ukrainians by Michael Buryk
March 26, 2026 · 21 min
About this episode
Former Ambassador Steven Pifer discusses the challenges of U.S. diplomacy in the context of the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Steven Pifer was the United States ambassador to Ukraine from 1998-2000. Currently he is an affiliate with Stanford's Center for International Security and Cooperation and a nonresident fellow with the Brookings Institution. Ambassador Pifer does not think the U.S. diplomatic effort to end the war in Ukraine is working. He believes Russian President Putin is unwilling to make any concessions to end the war and is completely focused on winning on the battlefield. He states that now is the wrong time for the U.S. to lift sanctions on Russian oil. Mr. Pifer agrees with Ukraine President Zelenskyy's strategy of offering help to the Gulf States,. the U.S. and Israel through his advisors on drone warfare during the Iran war. Ambassador Pifer says the Trump administration should pressure President Putin to make concessions instead of leaning on President Zelenskyy. https://www.brookings.edu/people/steven-pifer/ https://www.kyivpost.com/post/71657 https://cisac.fsi.stanford.edu/people/steven-pifer
People in this episode
Host: Michael Buryk
Guest: Steven Pifer
Topics covered
- diplomacy
- Ukraine
- Russia
- war
- sanctions
- drone warfare
Keywords
- Steven Pifer
- Ukraine
- Russia
- diplomacy
- sanctions
- Vladimir Putin
- Volodymyr Zelenskyy
- drone warfare
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Stanford's Center for International Security and Cooperation, Brookings Institution, Trump administration
Places: Ukraine, U.S., Gulf States
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