Speaking at the European Parliament, Sachs said the Western strategy was based on the belief that Russia would ultimately collapse under sanctions and military support for Ukraine, News.az reports.
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“The project failed,” Sachs said.
According to him, US policymakers assumed Russia would not resist prolonged pressure, citing the geopolitical thinking of former US national security adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski.
“The Americans thought: we have the upper hand, we are going to win because we are going to bluff them. They are not really going to fight. They are not really going to mobilize,” Sachs said.
He argued that measures including Russia’s exclusion from the SWIFT international payment system, sweeping economic sanctions and the supply of advanced Western weapons to Ukraine—including HIMARS rocket systems, ATACMS missiles and F-16 fighter jets—were all expected to force Russia into defeat.
“Cutting Russia out of SWIFT was supposed to do them in. Economic sanctions were supposed to do them in. HIMARS, ATACMS, F-16s — all of this was supposed to do them in,” he said.
Sachs also criticized successive US administrations, saying he has long observed what he considers unrealistic foreign policy assumptions.
“Honestly, I have been listening to this for 70 years. With some understanding, I would say, for about 56 years. They speak nonsense every day — my country, my government. This is completely familiar to me,” he stated.
Reflecting on his previous advisory role in Ukraine, Sachs said he urged Ukrainian officials to pursue neutrality rather than rely on US support.
“I begged the Ukrainians. I had a track record with Ukraine; I advised the Ukrainians. I am not anti-Ukrainian. I am completely pro-Ukrainian,” he said.
“I told them: save your lives, save your sovereignty, save your territory — be neutral. Do not listen to the Americans.”
Sachs concluded by recalling a quotation commonly attributed to former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger.
“I repeated to them the famous adage of Henry Kissinger: to be an enemy of the United States is dangerous, but to be its friend is fatal,” he said.
