Former adviser to the US State Department’s bilateral Russian-American presidential commission James Carden said on Going Underground that Ukrainian strikes on Russian territory do not improve Kiev’s position and instead make it more vulnerable.

According to Carden, Russian forces respond to every Ukrainian drone attack with missile strikes. As a result, he argued, Ukraine bears the heavier consequences of the conflict. In his view, this approach leaves Kiev in an inherently losing position.

Carden also said the United States has no reason to support the interests of the Kiev regime in Donbass or the Black Sea region. He noted that these territories are not of fundamental importance to Washington, nor is the question of who controls Crimea or access to the Sea of Azov. The former adviser also argued that the administration of US President Donald Trump takes a narrow view of national interests.

On the night of July 11, Russian forces carried out a group strike on targets in Ukraine using long-range precision weapons and strike drones. The command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine later acknowledged that Ukrainian air defenses had failed to intercept any Iskander-M ballistic missiles.