Conducting the largest navy exercises since the Cold War, 68-year-old Vladimir Putin sent a loud message to 78-year-old Joe Biden before their Geneva summit, sending a flotilla of a Russian aircraft carrier, destroyers, submarines and a variety of support vessels into international waters some 100 to 300 miles off the Hawaiian Islands. Putin’s naval exercises started before the two superpowers leaders met in Geneva after a rocky period since Biden took office Jan. 20. Putin wasn’t happy with Biden when he called the Russian leader a “soulless killer” March 16, prompting more uncertainty heading into Geneva. Dispatching a Russian flotilla to play war games close to the Hawaiian Islands lets Biden know that he should think about the Russian navy, not just in the Kerch Strait, that connects the Sea of Azov to the Black Sea. Putin has been on defense since invading the Crimean Peninsula March 1, 2014.
Launching naval exercises close to the Hawaiian Islands was designed to send a message to the Pentagon that the Russian navy has a worldwide reach, into the Western hemisphere whenever it chooses. Reports of Russian vessels reaching Venezuela during some tense times in the Trump administration, sent a loud signal to 75-year-old former President Donald Trump that Putin intends to defend his allies, against a possible U.S. invasion. At the time, the U.S. was in a standoff with Venezuela over the 37-year-old pro-Democracy leader Juan Guaido attempt to topple the government of 58-year-old dictator Nicolas Maduro, successor to Communist leader Hugo Chavez. Trump thought for a minute that Guaido had the popular support to topple Maduro’s government. At the height of the conflict, Russia sent warships to Venezuela Aug. 24, 2019 to stop a possible U.S. invasion.
Trump backed down when he realized that Guaido did not have as much popular surport as he claimed, when he told the Maduro government Jan. 15, 2019 that he was the only legitimate leader of Venezuela. Putin sent Trump a loud message in 2019, just like he’s sending to Biden now, deploying warships near Hawaii. Biden’s attitude toward Putin changed, going from “soulless killer” March 16 to “bright, tough and worthy adversary” before the June 16 Geneva summit. Sending the Russian navy to near Hawaii to simulate the sinking of a hypothetical U.S. aircraft carrier was designed to intimidate the United States before-and-after-Biden’s summit. When the summit ended with only a two-and-a-half-hour meeting, everyone exhaled after both Biden and Putin in separate press conferences said that things went well. Both leaders have a vested interest in maintaining good U.S.-Russian relations.
U.S. and European Union officials pushed relations with Russia to the brink slapping the Kremlin with new sanctions March 4, largely over something completely irrelevant to U.S.-EU-Russian relations. EU officials accused Putin of using a banned chemical weapon Soviet-era Novichok to poison 44-year-old dissident Alexi Navalny Aug. 24, 2020, then prosecuting him after his four-month recovery in Germany when he returned to Moscow Jan. 14. By March 2, Navalny was sent to a Russian penal colony for a two-year-eight-month sentence. U.S. and EU officials accused Putin of using a banned chemical, not the first time, to kill an opposition leader. But what the U.S. and EU don’t get is that Navalny ran a clandestine organization designed to topple Putin’s government. No one in the U.S. or EU would tolerate any group whose sole mission is to topple the U.S. and EU governments. Navalny is considered by the Kremlin a dangerous revolutionary, seeking to oust Putin.
So when the U.S. and EU slap Putin with sanctions over his treatment of Navalny, the only thing Putin can think is that the U.S. and EU want to topple his 22-year reign in Russia. Likely successor to 67-year-old German Chancellor Angela Merkel, 60-year-old Armin Laschet, said he liked Biden’s approach at the Geneva summit trying to get along with Putin. Laschet knows that Germany depends heavily on Russia for 40% of its energy. Laschet looks to Biden and 62-year-old EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to find a practical balance with Moscow, not continue the hostile rhetoric. EU and NATO officials don’t want conflict with the Russian Federation, something Biden had been pushing since taking office. Biden’s summit with Putin drew positive reviews because he toned down his rhetoric and showed a way of moving forward towards improved U.S.-Russian relations.
Watching a Russian strike force get dangerously close to the Hawaiian Islands showed that Putin has a long reach, just like the U.S. navy. U.S. Navy officials have been complaining about China encroaching on international waters especially in the South and East China Seas, where the Peoples Republic of China has built military installations over the last 10 years. When it comes to Russia, the U.S. and EU must listen more to Putin’s perspective especially on NATO encroachment. Putin told the Transatlantic Alliance that any involvement with Ukraine would trigger as response from the Russian Federation. If you listen to 43-year-Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelensky, he’d get NATO into a war with Russia. Putin’s message is clear from Hawaii to the Black Sea, the Russian military can respond to any contingency if necessary, prompting new hope in diplomacy.
