Fiona Hill says that Trump emboldened Putin to invade Ukraine by treating the country like a 'playground'

Fiona Hill criticised Donald Trump's approach to foreign policy, especially Russia.
Hill said Trump's policies sent the message to Putin that Ukraine is a "playground."
Her comments come as the US warns that Russia is about to invade Ukraine.

Former White House Russia advisor Fiona Hill said that President Donald Trump's foreign policy emboldened Russia to the point where it feels it can invade Ukraine.

In an interview with CNN Hill, an expert on Russia who advised Trump, addressed the contrasts between Trump's approach to foreign policy and President Joe Biden's.

She said Trump's foreign policy had not been driven by concern about the US national interest, but by personal interests and impulses.

"There's no Team America for Trump," Hill said. "Not once did I see him do anything to put America first. Not once. Not for a single second."

Hill recalled Trump's praise for Russia's authoritarian leader, Vladimir Putin as well as his disdain for NATO. She also mentioned his campaign to pressure Ukraine for manufactured dirt about Biden in the run up to the 2020 election. The Ukraine pressure campaign saw Trump threaten to withhold military aid from the nation, and led to his first impeachment.

"All this did was say to Russia that Ukraine was a playground," Hill said, drawing a direct line to events today, where Russia has amassed a huge military force around Ukraine which the US said is for an invasion.

Hill shot to prominence when she testified during Trump's 2019 impeachment hearings, rebutting conspiracy theories promoted by Trump allies that sought to excuse Russia of blame for interfering in the 2016 election, and explaining how Russia was seeking to sew domestic discord in the US.

She has gone on to speak critically of Trump's approach to foreign policy, and has said there were close parallels between how Trump sought to cling on to power after his defeat in 2020 and Putin's style of rule.

Hill in the CNN interview said that Biden had managed to pull NATO allies together for a display of resolve in face of Russian aggression, but warned that the crisis would likely drag on for some time as Russia seeks to slowly exert pressure on Ukraine.

"The real challenge is keeping everyone together for a considerable period," Hill concluded. "It's going to go on a long time."

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