John Herbst to Newsmax: Putin Has Tried to Dominate Ukraine for Decades

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s efforts to dominate Ukraine date back decades and were driven in part by Moscow’s failure to prevent Kyiv’s democratic turn during the 2004 Orange Revolution, former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine John Herbst said Sunday on Newsmax.

Herbst, who was ambassador during the George W. Bush administration, said the Kremlin strongly opposed the rise of reform-minded, pro-Western Ukrainian leaders and actively interfered in Ukraine’s democratic process.

“Putin did not want someone like [Viktor] Yushchenko, who was reform-minded and Western-minded, as president,” Herbst said on “The Record With Greta Van Susteren.”