Did McFol say that educated Americans share Putin's position in Ukraine?

The Russian media distributed the statement of the former US ambassador to the Russian Federation Michael Makfol that many Americans, including scientists, allegedly support Putin's position in Ukraine. We checked what the diplomat actually said.

Articles about the sensational recognition of Michael McFol have published in such large publications as "Kommersant", RBC, "News" And "RIA Novosti". The emphasis was on the fact that the US scientific community - “academics, philosophers, experts” - also supposedly on the side of Putin. Edition "Moscow Komsomolets" Wrote: "McFol admitted that the most educated Americans share Putin's position in Ukraine." A "Tsargrad" In the article with the heading “McFol opened his eyes: in the United States, scientists support Putin, speaking of the unity of Russians and Ukrainians,” simultaneously accused the United States of hypocrisy: “It is amazing, but the fact is, many inhabitants of the United States, including representatives of the scientific community, share the theses of the Russian President Vladimir Putin about the historical unity of Russia and Ukraine, which he voiced before the start of the special operation. <...> However, this does not prevent the United States from adhering to the goal - to replace Russia from food markets. ”

Some media called Michael McFola is the most famous American ambassador to Russia. In the Western press about it more often They say As an architect of the failed “reboot” of Russian-American relations, which began in 2009. McFol headed the US diplomatic mission in the Russian Federation in January 2012. From the very first days of the Russian media service They accused The ambassador in the promotion of the Orange Revolution in Russia and that he allegedly came to "overthrow Putin's power." Having served in Russia for two years, McFol ahead of schedule left Your post in February 2014, shortly before the annexation of Crimea by Russia. To date Russian And Western The media agree that McFol is one of Putin’s most fierce public critics and his politics. Yes, and McFol himself in recent interview Ksenia Sobchak said that in Russia he was declared an enemy number one.

It was under such an information sauce that the news diverged through the Russian media: supposedly, even the ardent critic of the Kremlin publicly recognized the support of Putin’s position in Ukraine by the Americans. The reason for the news was interview Michael McFola to the project "UKRaine Now. Vizіya Maybutnoy "of the Ukrainian National Agency for the Prevention of Corruption. During this interview, McFol said: “I think in my country many agree with Putin’s statements about Ukraine:“ Russians, Ukrainians - they are all the same, are they so? Their languages ​​are, in principle, similar. After all, Russia originates from Kievan Rus. ” Many people think in this direction, among them even scientists and professors. ”

As already can be seen from the quote itself, the meaning of McFol's words differs from the opinion of the Russian media that "the most educated Americans share Putin's position in Ukraine." It is also worth analyzing the wider quote context. The host of the interview asked the question: "From which post -Soviet, post -colonial diseases should we be cured?" In response, Macfol said that, as the war in Ukraine showed, with the collapse of the USSR, the imperial views of Russia did not disappear anywhere. Putin revived these old ideas that the whole world considered extinct. A lesson that can be extracted from this war is better to understand the culture and history of Russia and Ukraine, because even some educated Americans have gaps in knowledge of these topics. With the help of Ukrainian scientists, it is necessary to develop a program that would tell the world about the true history of Ukraine and dispel the myth that Russians and Ukrainians are the same.

Russian media outstanding a quote from context to create an illusion: even the best people of the United States allegedly agree with Putin’s arguments that he brought before the introduction of troops to Ukraine. But, as can be seen from a full interview, the sensational headlines of the media are far from the real meaning of the words of McFol.

The image on the cover: US Ambassador to the Russian Federation Michael McFol, Moscow, 2013. Photo by Vadim Preslitsky. Source: The site of Michael McFola

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What do our verdicts mean?

Read on the topic:

1. Is it true that Vladimir Lenin created Ukrainian statehood?
2. "Kommersant". Michael McFol: "I was not an ordinary ambassador"
3. BBC. Michael McFaol: I love Russia and I hope to return