Ron Paul: US, EU Behind Ukraine Coup

In an analysis of the Ukrainian crisis on the anniversary of the Maidan coup, former Republican congressman Ron Paul argues that there was a good chance to avert civil war in eastern Ukraine, had it not been for the West's interventionist foreign policy.

Looking back on events leading up to the Maidan coup in Ukraine, former Texas Republican Congressman and presidential candidate Ron Paul notes that extreme turmoil and violence facing Ukraine following Maidan could have been avoided were it not for interventionist foreign policy by the West.

Commenting on events leading up to the coup in a column on his website on Sunday, Dr. Paul noted that the coup "was not only supported by US and EU governments – much of it was actually planned by them." The former congressman added that while Ukraine was a deeply divided country prior to the coup, "it is clear that without foreign intervention Ukraine would not be in its current, seemingly hopeless situation." Paul lamented that the "interventionist project" on the part of political forces inside the US and the EU turned a very difficult situation into a disaster and "full-out civil war" for Ukraine.

Dr. Paul describes how, as the political and economic crisis in Ukraine advanced in 2013, "a steady stream of US and EU politicians were openly participating" in protests calling "for the overthrow of the Ukrainian government." He recalls the leaked phone conversation featuring Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland chatting with the US Ambassador to Ukraine about who would and would not enter the new Ukrainian government. Noting the hypocrisy and outright absurdity of it all, the former congressman asks his readers rhetorically to "imagine if a foreign leader like Putin or Assad came to Washington to encourage protesters to overthrow the Obama Administration!"

Ultimately, Paul notes that US politicians like John McCain should focus on their own constituents back home "instead of non-constituents 6,000 miles away," asking what might happen if US diplomats "focused on actual diplomacy instead of regime change." He concludes that "if they had done so, there is a good chance many if not all of those who have been killed in the violence would still be alive today."