In his final public remarks as White House national security adviser, H.R. McMaster offered a stinging rebuke of Russian violations of sovereignty and attempts to sow discord in free societies, activities for which he said the U.S. and its allies must impose higher costs.
Speaking at an Atlantic Council event celebrating the U.S.-Baltic partnership, McMaster listed a string of recent malign activities by Russia, including hybrid warfare efforts: the early March poisoning of a former double agent on British soil, cyber attacks worldwide, and intercepts of U.S. and partner aircraft and vessels.
“Mr. Putin may believe that he is winning in this new form of warfare,” he said. “He may believe that his aggressive actions in the parks of Salisbury, in cyberspace, in the air, and on the high seas can undermine our confidence, our institutions, and our values. Perhaps he believes that our free nations are weak and will not respond.”
“He. Is. Wrong.”
McMaster then warned Russian leader Vladimir Putin that the West’s determination to counter Russian provocations has only increased. He hearkened back to images of Western dedication to freedom in the face of tyranny.
“Russian aggression is strengthening our resolve and our confidence,” he said. “We might all help Mr. Putin understand his grave error. We might show him the beaches of Normandy, where lingering craters and bullet holes demonstrate the West’s will to sacrifice to preserve our freedom.” He continued, in part: “We might lead him to the stately buildings here in Washington, where inscriptions carved deep into stone proclaim that we are free to worship, equal under the law, and opposed to every form of tyranny over the mind of man. We might introduce him to the people, the people of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, who endured the devastation of the second World War, decades of Soviet occupation and communism, and emerged proud, strong, sovereign, free, and prosperous.”
McMaster described Russian aggression toward the West as part of a broader, “fundamental contest” between closed regimes and open societies. “Revisionist and repressive powers are attempting to undermine our values, our institutions, and our way of life,” he said.
The outgoing national security adviser praised President Donald Trump for calling out oppressive regimes as well as administration efforts to counter these regimes, including sanctions levied against Russia over its cyber activities and the coordinated expulsion of Russian officials last week.
But he said the U.S. and its allies still have more to do in pushing back on the Kremlin.
“For too long, some nations have looked the other way in the face of these threats. Russia brazenly and implausibly denies its actions, and we have failed to impose sufficient costs,” he said. “The Kremlin’s confidence has grown as its agents conduct their sustained campaigns to undermine our confidence in ourselves, and in one another.”
McMaster suggested that the U.S. and allies reform and internally integrate their efforts to counter Russia’s hybrid warfare efforts, which involve weaponizing information, increase investments in cyberinfrastructure, including being ready to punish aggressors, and increase cooperation among NATO allies on these fronts, including shared defense spending.
Most fundamental to McMaster’s account of what’s needed to push back on Russia, though, was a categorical opposition to tyranny and confidence in the values underlying a free society.
“We must realize that all of our actions depend on preserving our strategic confidence,” he said. “Our will to advance our values and defend our way of life.”
