Since taking office Jan. 20, 78-year-old President Joe Biden and his 58-year-old Secretary of State Tony Blinken have slammed 68-year-old Russian President Vladimir Putin and the Russian Federation. Biden called Putin a “soulless killer” March 16, hit a new low point, making him look irresponsible and –out-of-touch. Blinken hasn’t done much better until now beginning to soften his tone, now saying he wants a “stable” and “predictable” relationship with Moscow. But with the U.S. and European Union expelling Russian diplomats, with Putin responding in kind, the doomsday clock got closer to midnight, watching the two superpowers spar with each other. Binden and Blinken demand Jan. 27 that Putin release 44-year-old Russian dissident Aliexi Navalny from prison, warning about severe consequences should something happen to Navalny in a Russian penal colony.
Biden and Blinken slammed Putin for alleged meddling in the 2016 and 2020 elections, citing no proof, other than spewing wild allegations. As Biden and Blinken got more belligerent, Putin stationed thousands of troops near the eastern border with Ukraine. When Biden was Vice President, Putin invaded Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula March 1, 2024. Western officials and the press never admit that a CIA-backed coup was staged in Kiev Feb. 22, 2014, toppling the duly elected, Kremlin-backed government of Viktor Yanukovych. Putin moved swiftly after the close the Sochi Winter Olympics Feb. 23, ordering his troops to seize Crimea. Putin’s has the Black Sea Fleet stationed in Sebastopol, Crimea. He wasn’t about to jeopardize his Black Sea Fleet because of a CIA-backed coup in Kiev. Obama and Biden were fit-to-be-tied watching Putin’s move without any response other than sanctions.
No one in NATO or the European Union want a military confrontation with the Russian Federation. Blinken knows that NATO’s charter prohibits it from adding a country to the NATO umbrella currently at war. Ukraine has been in a low intensity war with Russia since Putin annexed Crimea March 1, 2014. Yet Ukraine’s 43-year-old President Volodymyr Zelensky has been threatening to join NATO or at least hold joint military drills against Putin’s warnings. Putin has said clearly that any NATO involvement in Ukraine would be a red line for the Kremlin, prompting possible annexation for Russian-speaking territories in eastern Ukraine. Ukraine’s Donbass region, AKA “the Peoples Republic of Donetsk” wants out of Ukraine at the earliest possible time. Instead of getting the big picture, Biden and Blinken have slapped the Russian Federation with more economic sanctions.
After pushing things with Russia to the brink, Blinken has not backed off, knowing that an expected June summit with Putin must find common ground. Blinken found everything objectionable done by Putin, culminating in Biden calling the Russian leader a “soulless killer.” Meeting with 71-year-old Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov at the sidelines of the Reykjavik, Iceland Arctic Council, Blinken jousted with Lavrov before realizing he was making things worse. Blinken tried to mend fences with Lavrov, knowing the savvy Foreign Minister has Putin’s ear, realizing he can’t set Biden up for disaster in the June summit. Blinken has looked like a dear in the headlights dealing with Russia and China. When he and 44-year-old National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan met in Anchorage, Alaska with a high level Chinese delegation, they offended 68-yar-old Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Blinker now says he’s looking for common ground with Russia. “There are clearly areas where it’s our mutual interest to find ways to cooperate. Whether it’s on Afghanistan, whether it’s on so-called strategic stability, arms control agreements. Whether it’s on dealing with climate change,” Blinken said, showing, for the first time, a hint of civility. But more than finding common ground, Blinken needs to stop his hostile attitude that’s perceived by Putin and Lavrov as American arrogance. Blinken’s caught in the weeds of foreign policy, doesn’t realize that 90% is rapport building. Putin would like to see Biden and the U.S. show more respect to him and the Russian Federation. Calling Putin as “soulless killer’ was a gaffe by Biden of astonishing proportions. Blinken needs to stop lecturing Russia and China about human rights and start working on a better relationship.
Blinken’s recent statements about finding common ground with the Russian Federation aren’t enough to turn the situation around. He needs to stop threatening Putin with more sanctions and start showing more respect to one of the world’s most powerful leaders. Both Putin and Xi deserve more respect from Biden and Blinken, not rookie lectures about human rights. “Ultimately it’s is up to Russia to decide whether it wants to have that more predictable, stable relationship,” Blinken said, back to the lecturing that won’t get far in June when Biden and Putin meet in a summit. It’s up to both countries, not just Russia, to make concessions. Biden and Blinken have spent too much time lecturing, making threats and hurling sanctions on the Russian Federation to improve U.S.-Russian relations. Blinken needs an urgent lesson in diplomacy, how to get along with America’s adversaries.
