Lying is effectively a standard practice for diplomats in “real world,” Michael McFaul says
Washington has been deliberately lying about Ukraine’s prospects to ever join NATO, knowing that the former Soviet republic isn’t a legitimate contender to qualify for membership in the Western military bloc, former US Ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul has acknowledged.
The veteran diplomat made the revelation in a public policy forum, the semi-annual Munk Debates, earlier this month in Toronto. Partnered with Polish MEP Radoslaw Sikorski, McFaul sparred on May 12 against Harvard international affairs professor Stephen Walt and political John Mearsheimer over the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine. The two scholars argued that the conflict was avoidable and stemmed from actions by the US and NATO, while McFaul and Sikorski took the position that only Russia and the ambitions of President Vladimir Putin were to blame.
