Dear Mr. President:
I am hoping you remember me. I spent about 90 minutes with you and much of your cabinet in the Oval Office in the spring of 2017, when I was asked to meet with you to discuss issues related to Russian President Vladimir Putin and Russian Federation.
I will never forget the experience of speaking with you, the President of the United States, and will always remember what it was like sitting across from you in the Oval Office - the most powerful leader in the world (and a fellow New Yorker). Most CIA Officers never get the opportunity to spend time in the White House briefing the Agency’s number one “consumer” and I was deeply grateful for the opportunity.
There were many moments that struck me as significant during our meeting that I will never forget. While discussing something – that I will not discuss publicly - related to Russian President Vladimir Putin, I told you that I did not agree with a point you made. Instead of getting angry or kicking me out of your office, you asked me to explain why I disagreed and after I did, you thanked me for sharing my insights. Mr. President, given what’s happening with Russia right now, I feel compelled to turn to you again to reinitiate our dialogue.
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A lot has changed since 2017. Since retiring from the CIA in May 2023, I have traveled to Ukraine multiple times and have seen firsthand, the horrible impact that Vladimir Putin’s war against Ukraine has had on the Ukrainian people. The majority of Ukrainians today support your desire to bring this unprovoked war to an end. But it is now clear that Putin is stringing the world along by claiming he wants to discuss “peace” while continuing to wage war. It also seems clear now that the only way to bring an end to this war is to force Putin to negotiate by significantly increasing pressure on the Kremlin.
Before your re-election in November 2024, many Ukrainians I spoke with expressed the view that only you could end the war because of the two U.S. Presidential candidates, you were the one Putin feared because you had already demonstrated your willingness to take decisive action against the Kremlin. They believed that you had both the will and the strength to stand up to Putin and make clear to him that if he continued to pursue his aggression against Ukraine - killing innocent people - he would pay a significant price.
I agreed with those Ukrainians and often reminded interlocutors and commentators that in my 34-year career in the U.S. Government, you were the first President who I believed was willing to hold the Kremlin accountable when it threatened U.S. and allied interests. I argued to audiences in the U.S. that during your first term in the White House you took decisive action against Russia when necessary. You were wise enough to know when to stand up to Russian threats, respond to Moscow’s aggressive behavior and terminate U.S. participation in treaties and agreements that Moscow refused to abide by.
Sadly, Putin has refused to listen to your appeals to find a peaceful solution to end the fighting in Ukraine. Despite your repeated efforts to engage, he is not taking the steps needed to support the start of serious negotiations. The Russian president refused to travel to Istanbul in mid-May to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy despite your best efforts together with the efforts of Turkish President Erdogan. Instead, he sent a low-level delegation to Türkiye, even after you offered to amend your trip to the region and travel to that country to support a meeting between the Ukrainian and Russian Presidents. He then expanded his attacks on Ukraine, destroying more civilian infrastructure and killing innocent people.
Putin is trying to convince you that he is more powerful than he really is. The Russian economy is suffering under Western sanctions. Russian society is feeling the strains of the war, which has cost their population dearly. While it is true that the Russians may have “a high threshold for pain”, they are still mothers and fathers who are growing tired of seeing their children sent off to die on the battlefields of Ukraine while they face increasing hardships at home.
History has shown that the Russian people also have a “breaking point” and will not tolerate incompetent and selfish leaders forever.
The results of the recent “Victory Day” celebrations in Moscow demonstrated how isolated Putin is internationally and his continued insistence on attacking Ukraine and the wakeup call you have delivered to our European allies has resulted in even greater resolution of the part of many of them to stand up to Putin’s aggression.
The Ukrainian people want peace but are willing to continue fighting to protect their sovereignty. Putin is not in a position of strength and is bluffing when he acts as if there will be no negative consequences if he does not sign a ceasefire agreement with Kyiv.
Instead of respecting your efforts to secure a peaceful settlement to the war, Putin is challenging your authority and insulting you each time he launches new attacks on Ukrainian villages and cities. He will not stop killing civilians.
It is insulting to the American people every time he launches air strikes against Kyiv when U.S. officials travel to Ukraine as your representatives or when your Special Envoy travels to Russia or we host Russian emissaries in the U.S. while Moscow continues to kill. Each time Putin allows his Armed Forces to launch attacks, he is sending the world a message that he does not respect the U.S.
Mr. President, on January 20, you made clear that if Putin didn’t agree to serious negotiations to end the war, you would introduce secondary sanctions on the Russian economy and significantly increase pressure on the Kremlin. Putin’s refusal to meet in Istanbul and his continued large-scale attacks on Ukraine should be seen as the “red line” that he has crossed, triggering the decisive and strong response that the American people are hoping to see.
To end the war, it is time for you to move forward with the introduction of those sanctions, increase U.S. military support to the Ukrainian Armed Forces and place greater pressure on those countries that continue to trade with Moscow to end that trade until Moscow is ready to make peace.
Once Putin sees that you are ready to call his bluff, then he will start showing a real willingness to make peace and end this horrible war and the people around him will realize he is squandering an opportunity to stop the war and make their country more prosperous and secure for the future.
After our meeting Mr. President, many of my colleagues and family members asked me what it was like to meet with you and how you treated me during our discussion. I told them that throughout the meeting you were extremely gracious, asked excellent questions and appeared sincerely interested in hearing my perspective on issues I was brought to discuss with you. My sense was that you appreciated the fact that I had not just studied Russia academically but had spent many years working in Russia and dealing directly with Russians on a range of issues. You took the time to ask me about my previous assignments and background. I also stressed that before I left the Oval Office that day, despite your very busy schedule, you took the time to ask me to relay your thanks to my wife and sons for all the sacrifices they had made throughout my career working for the CIA. This last point was extremely important for me, because it demonstrated, contrary to the claims of many of your opponents in the media, that you value those who serve our country.
Mr. President, you have made clear that you want Putin to stop the killing. When it comes to Russia, now is your time to act on what you value most.
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