Victoria Nuland, third-highest ranking US diplomat and critic of Russia’s war in Ukraine, retiring

Victoria Nuland, the third-highest ranking US diplomat and frequent target of criticism for her hawkish views on Russia and its actions in Ukraine, will retire and leave her post this month, the State Department said Tuesday.

Nuland, a career foreign service officer who served as Assistant Secretary of State for Europe during the Obama administration but retired after Donald Trump was elected president, returned to government as Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs in the Biden administration.

She had been a candidate to succeed Wendy Sherman as deputy Secretary of State and had served as acting deputy since Sherman's retirement seven months ago but lost an internal administration personnel battle when President Joe Biden nominated Kurt Campbell to the no 2 spot. Campbell took office last month.

Nuland had served at the US embassy in Moscow in the...