AP Pentagon's top Russia official resigns

The Pentagon’s top official overseeing military relations with Russia and Ukraine is resigning amid the ongoing debate within the Obama administration over how to respond to Russian moves in Ukraine and Syria.

Evelyn Farkas, deputy assistant secretary of defense for Russia, Ukraine and Eurasia, is leaving her post at the end of next month after five years with the Defense Department, a senior defense official confirmed to POLITICO.


“She has advised three secretaries of defense on Russia policy, providing steady counsel on how the U.S. should respond to Russia's aggressive actions and has been deeply involved in securing $244 million in support for Ukraine,” the official said. “In addition, Evelyn has brought fresh thinking to Southeast Europe policies — supporting Montenegro's interest in joining NATO, expanding defense cooperation with Georgia, and increasing multilateral cooperation with the three Caucasus nations.”

Another senior defense official said the administration would likely have a hard time finding a replacement.

"There are not a lot of Europe experts in this administration who have a long record of accomplishment," the official said. "There's no doubt this leaves the Pentagon weaker in terms of its policy-making on European issues."

Farkas had no comment Tuesday.

Her departure comes at a sensitive time for the administration as President Barack Obama’s national security team is divided over how to respond to Ukraine’s pleas for more advanced weapons to help battle Moscow-backed rebels and Russia’s military deployments in Syria.

On one side are those who are open to providing lethal aid to Ukraine, including Obama’s own secretary of Defense, Ash Carter. On the other side are doves including Obama himself, who want to support Ukraine with non-lethal equipment but who fear that arming Ukraine against Russia might prompt an escalation that could bring the long-simmering crisis to a boil.

So far, the president has constrained the U.S. response, opting to provide vehicles, counter-mortar radars, body armor and other such equipment — but not the anti-tank missiles or other weapons Ukraine really wants.

Farkas is a veteran defense policy hand, having served as a senior adviser to the U.S. European Command, executive director of a congressionally mandated commission on proliferation and a professional staff member on the Senate Armed Services Committee.

As assistant secretary of defense, she traveled widely as part of the ongoing international standoff with Russia over Ukraine. All along, however, Russia has been a deep point of contention between the White House and the Pentagon.

Obama pushed out his previous defense secretary, Chuck Hagel, after he urged a stronger American response to Russia’s aggression. Hagel also questioned the president’s strategy for arming so-called moderate Syrian fighters against the Islamic State, a program that has since all but imploded in an embarrassment for the administration.

Further complicating matters — and uniting those two crises — are Russia’s recent military deployments in Syria, which include some 32 combat aircraft along with attack helicopters, armored vehicles and many troops.

Obama met with Russian President Vladimir Putin Monday on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York to learn more about Russia’s intentions in Syria. Obama has asked for answers from his national security team about Russia, but the limits he has placed on potential U.S. action might mean they don’t have many new options to recommend.

In testimony last year before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Farkas took a hard line on Russia, saying the country’s actions “stand as an affront to the international order that we and our allies have worked to build since the end of the Cold War.”

"Russia's illegal annexation of Crimea, followed by blatant and unconcealed efforts to destabilize eastern and southern Ukraine, signifies a paradigm shift for our relations with Russia,” she said in prepared testimony. “As the crisis deepens, our European allies and partners will look to the United States to demonstrate resolve and to reinforce solidarity across the continent.”