Biden’s Diplomacy With Putin Is Dangerous
After this week’s summit, Russia has already gotten some unwarranted concessions from Europe and the U.S.
Ukraine near the Russian border, April 2021.
Photographer: ANATOLII STEPANOV/AFPPresident Joe Biden’s administration has gone out of its way to signal toughness toward Russia’s military buildup on Ukraine’s border. Biden himself said on Wednesday that he told Russian President Vladimir Putin that if he ordered an invasion, the U.S. was prepared to unleash economic consequences on Russia “like none he’s ever seen or ever have been seen.”
Those economic consequences would probably include excluding Russia from the Swift system for international electronic payments, and possibly a reimposition of U.S. sanctions on companies working on the construction of the Nordstream 2 pipeline between Russia and Germany. Biden has also threatened to increase weapons shipments to Ukraine and bolster the defenses of vulnerable NATO allies on Ukraine’s border.