President Joe Biden, 79, fumbled his way through a Zoom conference call with 69-year-old President Vladimir Putin, accomplishing little or nothing to resolve the standoff in Ukraine where some 94,500 Russian troops sit inside Russia on the Ukrainian border. White House officials forbid the press from sitting in on the meeting, largely to save Biden from more embarrassment as the near octogenarian president tries to get through his daily schedule, today with a Zoom summit with Putin. Biden “called on for de-escalation and a return to diplomacy,” the White House said, not saying what if anything was resolved. “The two presidents tasked their teams to follow up, and the U.S. will do so in close coordination with allies and partners. The presidents also discuss the U.S.-Russia dialogue on Strategic Stability, a separate dialogue on ransom-ware as well as joint work on regional issues such as Iran,” said the statement.
By far the most pressing issue have been the drumbeat of Western press reports citing the escalation of Russian troops near the Ukrainian border, sparking speculation that Putin was ready to start annexing more Ukrainian territory. Ukraine’s 43-year-old President Volodymyr Zelensky said his country was prepared to confront Russia militarily, now that it was well-equipped with U.S. weapons. Biden “voiced the deep concerns of the United States and our European allies about Russia’s escalation of forces surrounding Ukraine and made clear that the U.S. and our allies would respond with strong economic and other measures in the event of military escalation,” said the White House summary of what Biden told Putin. Biden apparently heard nothing of why Russia was massing more troops near the Ukrainian border. Putin wasn’t given a chance to respond to Biden’s allegations.
Putin has said openly to the press that the Russian troop buildup was designed to send a loud message to the U.S. and NATO that Russia would not tolerate further encroachment by NATO in the region. Zelensky has made no secret of Ukraine’s desire to join NATO, so the Transatlantic partnership fight Ukraine’s battles with the Russian Federation. Zelensky demands that Moscow return the Crimean peninsula to Ukraine, something Putin seized March 1, 2014. No Western official acknowledges that the Feb. 22, 2014 CIA-backed coup toppled the pro-Kremlin government of Viktor Yanukovych, driving the duly elected president out of Kiev. When the dust settled, 50-year-old former heavyweight boxer Vitali Klitschko became the Kiev mayor, leading the pro-Western government with 56-year-old former President Petro Poroshenko. Zelensky took office May 20, 2019,
Biden knows that had the CIA-backed coup not happened Feb. 22, 2014, Putin would not have annexed Crimea to protect his naval base in Sevastopol. But to Biden and Western countries it’s always Putin as the aggressor, denying any part in bringing about his strategic decision to invade Crimea after the coup. Biden’s threats of economic sanctions are bound to antagonize Putin because he feels that Russia is the victim of Western aggression, not the other way around. Zelensky hasn’t helped defuse tensions a accusing Russia of an attempted coup last month. Zelensky’s overture to NATO have irked the Kremlin, leaving Putin stating that Russia has its “red lines” when it comes to NATO. “Joe Biden has no one to blame but himself for the situation in Russia,” said Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ak.), referring to Ukraine. Cotton surely knows that there’s little Biden can do to de-escalate the situation along the border.
Republicans in Congress seeks to score political points, not find a practical solution short of sanctions or war. “Diplomacy without action is weak and Vladimir Putin only understands strength. Allowing him to execute a land grab in Ukraine would be a humanitarian disaster in Europe and embolden other malign entities such the Chinese Communist Party . . .” said Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tx.) sounding crazy. Blackburn knows that the U.S. should not commit any troops to Ukraine regardless of what Putin does in Ukraine. What business in the name of national security does the U.S. have in Ukraine? Blackburn knows that during the Bush-43 administration Putin invaded in 2008 Abkhazia and South Ossetia, Georgia. Nothing happened until the CIA-backed coup in Kiev prompted Putin to seize Crimea. Blackburn can’t possibly think the U.S. should go to war with the Russian Federation.
Biden has enough problems on his own figuring things out without the GOP making asinine suggestions about confronting Putin in Ukraine. Biden or his 59-year-old Secretary of State Tony Blinken should sit down with Zelensky and tell him to open up diplomacy with Putin and the Russian Federation. Zelensky must be told by Biden that the U.S. or NATO won’t fight Ukraine’s battles with Moscow. GOP members of Congress should stop offering untenable suggestions about the U.S. confronting Putin and the Russian Federation. Talking about Biden’s obvious cognitive challenges is fair game for Cotton, Blackburn or any other GOP elected officials. Encouraging Biden to get into armed conflict with Putin is far worse that letting the cognitively impaired president bumble along with U.S. foreign policy. Congress should evaluate Biden’s fitness to continue as president.
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