Since taking office Jan. 20, 78-year-old President Joe Biden did what he promised, turn back the clock on U.S.-Russian relations. Spurred on by the press, Biden said he would not “roll over” for Putin, a reference to his predecessor 74-year-old former President Donald Trump. Trump was accused by Biden and the Obama administration of colluding with the Kremlin to win the 2016 presidential election. Based only on former Secretary of State and Democrat nominee Hillary Rodham Clinton’s paid opposition research AKA “the Steele Dossier,” Biden spews the same nonsense as Hillary, that Trump, as Hillary put it, was a “Putin puppet.” Hillary of course lost the 2016 election, blaming everyone, including former FBI Director James Comey, for her loss to Trump. Democrats never considered Trump a legitimate president, continuing the fake narrative that he was a Russian asset.
Biden’s tough talk against the Kremlin severely damages U.S. national security, pushing U.S.-Russian relations to the brink. While Biden threatens new economic and travel sanctions against the Kremlin, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Feb. 12 that Russia was prepared to end diplomatic ties to the European Union if the EU or U.S. slaps Moscow with new economic sanctions. Biden demanded along with his EU counterpart EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen that Putin release 44-year-old Russian dissident Alexi Navalny from prison. If that weren’t bad enough, Biden brings up Putin’s invasion and annexation of Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula. March 1 is the seven-year anniversary of Ukraine’s Kiev “revolution,” when they booted out Kremlin-backed President Viktor Yanukovych, replacing him instead with pro-Western chocolate baron Petro Poroshenko June 7, 2014.
Biden and his new national security team led by Secretary of State Tony Blinken and National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, think they can intimidate Putin into releasing Navalny from prison and giving back Crimea. “The United States does not and will never recognize Russia’s purported annexation of the peninsula, and will stand with Ukraine against Russia’s aggressive acts. We will continue to work to hold Russia accountable for its abuses and aggression in Ukraine,” Biden said. Biden had a close relationship with Ukraine once heading Obama’s anti-corruption task force in Ukraine. Joe somehow managed to get his 50-year-old son Hunter and his friend Devon Archers $83,000 a month jobs on a corrupt natural gas company Burisma Holdings board. When Joe was Biden’s Vice President, he watched the CIA-sponsored Kiev coup Feb. 22, 2014 that drove Putin to annex Crimea.
Biden’s hostile rhetoric toward Putin plays right into the Kremlin’s decision to employ Russia’s Federal Security Service [FSB] to crack down on anti-Putin dissidents led by Alexi Navalny. U.S. and EU officials have focused on Navalny’s Jan. 17 arrest, prosecution and sentencing to two-years-eight-months in prison for violation terms of probation. Navalny contends he was framed by Putin, who ordered his Aug. 24, 2010 assassination a with Soviet-era Novichok poisoning. Navalny barely survived but was nursed back to health in Berlin before return to Moscow. While promoted as a pro-Democracy activist in the U.S. and EU press, Navalny is a ruthless dissident that seeks nothing short of overthrowing Putin’s government. Whatever issues the U.S. and EU have with Navalny, Biden now brings up Crimea, a far more sensitive issue, since Russia troops encroach on the southeaster border with Ukraine.
Biden and his young national security team are about to find out the hard way what happens when you cross Putin. Trump placated Putin in order to help mend the damage done by the Obama administration to U.S.-Russian relations. Obama expelled 35 Russian diplomats Dec. 31, 2016, only three weeks before Trump’s inauguration. Trump’s attempts to mend fences with Russia got Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn into hot water with Washington hysteria accusing him of colluding with the Kremlin. Flynn spoke during the 2016 transition with former Russian Amb. Sergey Kislyak, prompting calls from Biden that he violated the 1799 Logan Act, preventing private citizens from conduction U.S. foreign policy. Biden’s vedetta with Putin runs deep, knowing he invaded Crimea March 1, 2014 on his watch. Biden dredging up Crimea only makes a bad situation worse, drives U.S.-Russian relations south.
Whatever happened in the Obama administration, it’s water under the bridge. U.S. national security, battling hot spots around the globe, needs solid relations with Putin to help the U.S. deal wit adversaries like Iran and North Korea. Attacking Putin from the get-go guarantees when the U.S. needs Putin for leverage with China, North Korea or Iran, he won’t be inclined to help. When you consider House Democrats response to Trump for the Jan. 6 Capitol riot and mob scene, you’d think the U.S. and EU would have some empathy for dissidents that try to overthrow the U.S. government. If House Democrats blamed Trump for “incitement of insurrection,” what could Putin charge Navalny with since he operates a cryptic nationwide resistance to undermine the Kremlin and Putin’s government? Biden’s got off on the worst possible foot slamming Putin for all that’s wrong with his foreign policy.
