"Putin is Pushing Our Buttons", Fiona Hill on Russia's War in Ukraine 

Only fools underestimate Russia

I’m a Fiona Hill fan girl. Among the things I love about her is that she cannot give a one sentence answer to a very interesting question that touches on areas of her expertise. She knows so much, and expresses it so clearly, that I come away from any of her talks with a fuller understanding of regional and global topics of current interest. Thank you for presenting this very interesting interview. Cheers!

Another great interview with Fiona Hill!

Yes, simply great talk and insightful insight. Lots of good points and comments. I have gained some knowledge.

Dr Fiona Hill is a British-born American foreign affairs specialist who has spent her whole career working to expand US influence in Eurasia. She is a former official at the U.S. National Security Council specializing in Russian and European affairs. She has a strong anti-Russian stance, focused on the person of Vladimir Putin, with analyses such as “Putin’s Personality Disorder" and “What If Putin Disappeared for Real?” One can observe from this that the Institute for War and Peace Reporting,Eurasia Foundation and Open Society Institute are seen as highly relevant stepping stones to a top level intelligence career: Hill became an intelligence analyst under Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama at the National Intelligence Council where she, from 2006 to 2009, was the Intelligence Community’s senior expert on Russia and the former Soviet republics, including Ukraine. From 2009 to 2017, she worked at the Brookings Institutionin Washington DC, as Senior Fellow & Director, in the Center on the United States & Europe. She was appointed, in the first quarter of 2017, by President Donald Trump as Deputy Assistant to the President and Senior Director for European and Russian Affairs on his National Security Council staff. She resigned her position on July 19, 2019, and returned to the Brookings Institution in 2020. On October 14, 2019, responding to a subpoena, Hill testified in a closed-door deposition for ten hours before a committee of the United States Congress as part of the impeachment inquiry against President Donald Trump. In response to a question from that committee's chairman, Rep. Adam Schiff, Hill stated: "The Russians’ interests are frankly to delegitimize our entire presidency.… The goal of the Russians [in 2016] was really to put whoever became the president - by trying to tip their hands on one side of the scale - under a cloud." Hill is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

2 minutes in - and it is clear - both Fiona and Edward is in for a shock - as the fog of war clears and reality dawns upon the West

Fiona Hill, got mad respect for her. She's a very knowledgeable, intelligent woman, who speaks facts. I still recall her testimony about Putin playing Trump. She was right then, she's still right now about who/what Putin is.

Thank you very much to Mrs. Hill and Mr. Lucas for this excellent Interview.

I love listening to Ms. Hill. She is an island of measured sanity in an otherwise often chaotic ocean. Thanks for airing this interview!

Wonderful insightful grounded opinions. Thank you FH

Europeans and Americans need to except the new geopolitical reality of the raise of various countries such as China and Russia and Iran and India and Turkey....long gone are the days of western hegemony

Always brilliant. Time and again I feel that I have a position on various aspects, and Fiona gives me a whole new set of angles to consider. So informed and articulate

Mr Lucas does a wonderful job in asking quality questions and one can only say the Fiona Hill delivers every single time with crystal clear, well-researched answers.

These two are so sad. Such intelligent people, and so lost. Delusional :(

She is very beautiful woman and an intelligent woman! Fiona H.

Excellent. Thank you.

Fiona Hill one eye among blinds is a queen. Only blind people can admire that creature. No wonder Trump did not like her.

So the Russians want to topple Zelenski and topple Kiev. Can you you explain that in further depth and provide evidence for that? How should that be in Russian interests? What are the military implications? How big of an army is necessary to take Kiev? When is the Kherson offensive finally taking place? Will Ukraine win?

Explain why Putin is more popular in Russia now than at the beginning of the war.

Jesus, where she get her news from, BBC?

Interesting and informative interview - Fiona Hill is one smart lady, who says it like it is, at a level that is easy to understand - thanks to both of you.

"Even the complacent Germans are waking up to the dangers of their irresponsible crazy pacifist approach to security policy". Nicely put.

November 2023 - it would be interesting to have Fiona Hill back now with her angles on -the DT impeachment- the lost chance of peace- the war, and the possible outcomes

This is the first person who has pointed out that this is NOT the USSR we are dealing with. It is Russia. The implications are huge.

This poor lady is talking through her hat.

Putin isn’t crazy. He’s obsessed and focused. Hopefully he’s going to end up just a speed bump of history.

Why isn't she in politics? I mean seriously... SHE is the type of person that should be a politician. Not the crooks that currently are politicians.

This woman is BRILLIANT and this is a brilliant conversation about Putin and his goals and motives and fears and why our vaunted democracies failed in containing Putin. Fantastic.

The 🇺🇦 🇷🇺 War has not been on our media for many months. The world has forgotten and moved on 😔

Always spot on. She points out to the power of fascism: swift&deep decision making. But the flaws always show in the end: lack of perspective by centralized power (around one individual). Stakes in Europe and US are about trading in democracy for fascism. Trump&Putin as leaders, Salvini&Le Pen&Orban&Co as enablers.

A most Significant analysis and clarifying contribution to this historicly momentious event. Thank you.

Why do we have people like Johnson or Truss in number 10? - when we should have people of the calibre of Fiona Hill.

To all viewers -- to see exactly where we are now, please read "The War That Ended Peace: How Europe Abandoned Peace for the First World War" By Margaret MacMillan.

Brazil, India and other countries also question what the difference is between Russia invading Ukraine and the US, UK and other invading Iraq, Libya and other countries as well as overthrowing governements all over the world. Why should aggression by western countries be fine?

"To be an enemy of America can be dangerous, but to be a friend is fatal." Henry Kissinger. Amen. Have you heard it European NATO countries and Ukraine?

Excellent talk thank you 👍

I love how she doesn't let him interrupt.

These two academics mention Russia not facing up to post imperial realities, if only they could see the huge plank in their own eyes. Being articulate and well educated is indeed dangerous when you can't see reality.

I’m so pleased I was able to listen to this. I know I know much more than I did in the beginning. You’ve answered many of the questions that were rolling around in my head with no outlet. I listen to “Pod Save America” by Crooked Media. I would suggest that Fiona Hill might be interviewed by them to great effect.

Excellent interview. Thank you!

Third world countries don't want to be forced to choose between blocks... but by staying neutral now they give China and Russia the message that forming an adversarial block is viable or even secretly supported by the world; and consequently will cause them to have to choose between blocks.

Once again, Fiona is amazing!

She is brilliant!

"Putin is Pushing it up Our Bottoms", Fiona Hill on Russia's War in Ukraine THAT'S WHAT I (BRIEFLY) SAW!!!!!!!!!!

Stunning lady!

hi Fiona. i am ordinary civilian not involved in any political organization. Ordinary people are afraid of democracy because we see the double standards, especially with regard to previous colonial powers like Palastine . Zimbabwe and some south American countries ect from western powers, If Nato could focus on reversing the effects caused by these double standards. sanctions and giving money directly to the countries and not to people of influence, I am certain if this could be achieved it would be much more difficult for countries get support for war and the word would be a much safer place, As a person with no influence my only hope is that people like you could understand how we feel and get the people who can make a difference to understand that nobody believes or trust them when they try to push their selfish capitalist agender, for example, why did Nancy Palossi visit Taiwan instead of Gaza where she is needed,

This commentary just shows the stark contrast between how US and the West view Russia and how Russians view Russia and Putin.

It amazing how this woman got everything figured out, definitely expert :)

“We need to talk about it calmly,” but who should do that talking Ms. Hill? And the listening?

God Bless Fiona, she is a gift to us with clear thinking, logical mind and direct dialog. Thank You for posting. I will be checking in again. Dennis

Thankyou both

Love her natural look !

It is time American citizens start questioning 240 years of war out of 275 years of existence.

Has Fiona done some in depth analysis/discussions on the political situation in Ukraine?

I so admire and trust Ms. Hill's ideas. One would do well to heed her re this mess with Pu. (just cannot say his name as I cannot Tr. here in states.) I do want her to get out there more and comment on numerous media. It is Sept. and I have not heard much from her in last couple of months.

So beautiful inside and out.

according to the live map of Ukraine, Russia is eating up more and more Ukraine territory every day.. Take some time out and do some real research..

The quote about "the worst peace is better than the best war" is a quote from Erasmus ("The most disadvantageous peace is better than the most just war"), and one might consider why Erasmus held that view at his time vs. today.

Good conversation.

Extremely interesting. I know for a fact that countries all over Africa perceive that they must remain neutral so they can maneuver for their own various reasons. Some reasons are economical. Some are political. Some are out and out graft. But whatever the reason, America and NATO cannot ignore it or Russia and a China will benefit hugely.

Thanks Fiona. We need great people that study information with diligence. Keep it going. Thank you

We In The West Don't Want To Blame Ourselves For The Ukraine War

Wonderful Interview. Thank You

My brain is exploding....Fiona rocks! If only our politicians had a faction of her intellect.

The thing that gets me in this type of discussion is that for decades, such as I can remember, every discussion about the start of WWII includes a resounding condemnation of Chamberlain and his attempt to appease Hitler by giving him the German speaking parts of Czechoslovakia. Accompanying that is a comment about how the Allies could have stopped Hitler cold by intervening militarily and how that would have caused Hitler to fall out of favor in Germany. I have yet to hear anyone refer to that yet.

Yes, technically the battle of Stalingrad did happen in the USSR. But it was in the Russian FSR. And it's their standard for what counts as a lot of casualties. A few thousand casualties aren't going to get them to do another 1917. Getting rid of their tsar last time took them into a civil war with millions of casualties. The only thing worse than having a tsar is getting rid of one.

Fiona Hill: "" Donald Trump "What was that? And who is she?" She must have been climbing the walls by the end.

The comparison of the Warsaw Pact invasions and France not being invaded after leaving NATO is a horrible one France was still fundamentally in the Western camp even after leaving NATO. The US/UK were even sharing nuclear secrets with France at the time and helping them develop nukes. It's not like there was threats that France was gonna join the East or truly separate itself from the West. If anything, France/De Gaulle were like the Yugoslavia/Tito or Albania of the Western bloc, and the Soviets never invaded Yugoslavia or Albania even as they denounced the Soviets and separated themselves from the Soviet bloc. However, whenever there was communist threats in the Western bloc (Italy, France, Belgium, Greece), the U.S. and NATO responded with force. This includes intervening in elections, encouraging and funding the massacring of communists, sponsoring right-wing terrorist groups, backing right-wing dictatorships (Greece). There's a good dissertation on this turned into a book titled "NATO's Secret Armies" for more reading.

Not a single mention of the Minsk agreements or the 8 year shelling of Donbas. …. Says it all really .

Now we know why the cost of living as gone up in the west , they’ve just told us all how much these chicken hawks have spent

Fiona Hill is simply superb. Y

I love Fiona Hill, I just wish she could be given a free reign and not be interrupted by a man who has difficulty being succinct

This conversation is loaded with what the west wants to hear, and the logics r navii to say the least.

Testifying against Trump was a great career move 😉

Very informative.

Fiona Hill has great insight & intelligence.. Listen to her. Knows the issues.(on the money).

So if Russia doesn't collapse what is plan B for Europe?

She artfully dodged the question about Johnson and the Lebedevs and Russian donations to the Tory party. Is Johnson a Russian asset ?

...she did not criticize America or the west when she was talking about in particular Syria .

Good Reasoning

Hey! That book he introduced. .. It's right there on the shelf behind her! What are the chances of That!? 😛

When you speak,I listen..a remarkable and unshakable woman..if only there were men with as firm a grip as you..Thank you ms.Hill.. am charmed and informed..

Brilliant

One intelligent person, someone that should be listened to.

After listening to this, I think I have word overload!

My neck is hurting from the spinning.... is Russia the real empire?!?!?

"Don't believe a word Putin says", unless he says this isn't about NATO because when he says that he definitely means it? 🙄

This is such a flashback to 1968, when Lyndon Johnson sent 500,000 ill-equipped American soldiers to fight in the Vietnam war. They were mostly young conscripts who were too young to have the right to vote for or against the war. And we stayed long years after most Americans wanted to leave, finally losing and being ejected from the country. Sadly it sounds all too familiar.

If there wasn't the app Telegram I would have fallen for this bs.

The way the discussion over election topic was carried out in Ukraine, United States and in Russia, it made it sound like as if anything fundamentally changes through such a process. As far as I’m concerned, here in the United States, it doesn’t really matter whether it’s the Democraps or the Retrumplican who are in power. Nothing ever changes. On the surface we are given an illusion of democracy via the election process however, behind the scenes, not a single democratic wish of the people is ever implemented.

Brilliant mind! Lovely person!

Always enjoy your perspective

Who has engaged in wars during the past 30 years and has not ceased? Who is the #1 manufacturer of arms and spends trillions in maintaining military bases abroad? USA is the primary menace to world peace and keeps searching for enemies even in their closets.

One wonders what would have been Ms. Hill's advice to the White House if Mexico would have signed a military agreement with China.

What an amazing people the cossacks how do they do it stay on their knees so long.

Can anyone tell me why I can't find this on the Intelligence Squared website? Why am I able to find things on RU-vid and not their own site?!

Thank you Fionna Hill for your enlightening, clear, straight to the point coverage of the situation. With regard to her host, his lengthy introductions proposing answers before putting his questions out to Fionna is a very boresome interviewing technic. Thanks to both for an interesting show.

I did not hear a lot of data presented. She seems very mainstream. I found very little insight in this "interview" other than the pervasiveness of Western propaganda.

Who shelled the power plant? And is this not the ultimate argument on that score?

Agree - we should support anti Putin and anti current regime Russians ......