John Sullivan, our American ambassador who was on the diplomatic front lines when Putin invaded Ukraine, will share a behind-the-scenes account of how U.S.-Russia relations hit their nadir
For weeks before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, John J. Sullivan, the U.S. ambassador in Moscow, was warning that it would happen. When troops finally crossed the border, he was woken in the middle of the night with a prearranged code. The signal was even more bracing than the February cold: it meant that Sullivan needed to collect his bodyguards and get to the embassy as soon as possible. The war had begun, and the world would never be the same.
In Midnight in Moscow, Sullivan leads readers into the offices of the U.S. embassy and the halls of the Kremlin during this climactic period—among the most dangerous since World War II. He shows how the Putin regime repeatedly lied about its intentions to invade Ukraine in the weeks leading up to the attack, while also devoting huge numbers of personnel and vast resources to undermining the U.S. diplomatic mission in Russia. And he explains how, when Putin ultimately gave the order to launch a full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, he proved that Russia was not just at war with its neighbor: it was also at war, in a very real sense, with the United States, and with everything that it represents. But while Putin decided how this conflict started, its ending will be shaped by us.
With his unique perspective on a pivotal moment in world history, Sullivanshows how our relationship with Russia has deteriorated, where it’s headed, and how far we should be prepared to go in standing up to the menace in Moscow.
Ambassador John J. Sullivan, former US deputy secretary of state and former US ambassador to the Russian Federation, is a partner in Mayer Brown’s Washington DC and New York offices and co-lead of the firm’s National Security practice. He is also a Distinguished Scholar at the School of Foreign Service of Georgetown University and a Distinguished Fellow at the School of International and Public Affairs of Columbia University. He serves as a Contributor to CBS News, is quoted frequently in international media as a leading authority on foreign affairs, and has written a book on his experiences as ambassador, Midnight in Moscow, which is forthcoming from Little, Brown and Company in August 2024.
Prior to his post in Moscow, Ambassador Sullivan served for almost three years as the deputy secretary of state after a bipartisan 94-6 confirmation vote in the US Senate in 2017. In this senior role, he was responsible for both the formulation and conduct of US foreign policy and the management of the State Department’s global operations. He was the acting secretary of state in March-April 2018, among the longest tenures in history of anyone in that position.
Previously, Ambassador Sullivan held senior positions in the Departments of Justice, Defense, and Commerce in two prior administrations. Until January 2009, he was the deputy secretary of commerce under President George W. Bush, following his service from 2005 to 2007 as the general counsel of the department. In President Bush’s first term, he was appointed deputy general counsel of the Defense Department by Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld. In the George H.W. Bush Administration, Ambassador Sullivan was counselor to Assistant Attorney General J. Michael Luttig in the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel.
Ambassador Sullivan received his bachelor’s degree from Brown University and his law degree from the Columbia University School of Law, where he was Book Reviews Editor of the Columbia Law Review. He was a law clerk for Associate Justice David H. Souter of the Supreme Court of the United States, and for Judge John Minor Wisdom of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.
Arranged by Eloy Nava
Summary
Ambassador John J. Sullivan, who served as the U.S. Ambassador to Russia from 2019 to 2022, is the author of Midnight in Moscow, providing an insider’s view of U.S. – Russia relations leading up to and during the invasion of Ukraine. He detailed how Putin’s regime misled the world about its intentions before launching the full-scale war in February 2022 and discussed the broader geopolitical implications.
Sullivan highlighted that Putin sees the U.S. as an enemy and considers Ukraine an essential part of Russia’s historical and cultural identity. He argued that Putin’s messianic goal is to restore Russian sovereignty over the historic Russkiy Mir or Russian World of imperial times (which included Ukraine and Belarus) rather than merely to annex land. Sullivan emphasized that the failure of Russia’s intelligence agency, the FSB, to properly assess Ukraine’s resistance and prepare the battlefield led to the invasion’s disastrous execution.
Throughout the discussion, Sullivan warned that Putin will never willingly compromise or give up on his war aims. He asserted that Western sanctions, particularly on Russia’s energy sector, are having an economic impact but need to be enforced more aggressively. He also emphasized that withdrawing of U.S. support for Ukraine would embolden not just Russia but also adversaries like China, Iran, and North Korea.
Regarding the future, Sullivan dismissed the likelihood of Putin using nuclear weapons unless he faced an existential threat, such as a military march toward Moscow. He concluded that the only viable path to forcing Russia into a ceasefire is continued pressure through economic and military means.
The session ended with a Q&A, where Sullivan addressed concerns about Putin’s health, the role of energy policy in restraining Russia, and the broader consequences of a prolonged war. He encouraged continued U.S. engagement, warning that failing to support Ukraine would have dire consequences of a global geopolitical nature as Russia and other nations would view U.S. security assurances as unreliable.
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