Asked today by CBS News Nancy Cordes, celebrating Black History Month at the White House, whether U.S. citizens should be worried Putin’s nuclear threats, 79-year-old President Joe Biden said, “no.” President Vladimir Putin, 69, told his military, Sunday, to put his nuclear forces on “special combat readiness,” rattling nerves on both sides of the Atlantic. Biden’s “curt” response underscores dangers to U.S. national security allowing U.S.-Russian relations to deteriorate to almost a break-off of diplomatic relations. While everyone’s up-in-arms about Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, there are growing concerns about Putin’s rambling nuclear threats, if, for no other reason, there’s a nearly complete communication breakdown. All of Biden’s White House officials keep making disparaging remarks about Putin daily, condemning him for more than the Ukraine invasion.
U.S. Amb. to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield hit Putin with both barrels today, reacting to Putin’s remarks about his nuclear forces. “President Putin is continuing to escalate this war in a manner that is totally unacceptable, and we have to continue to condemn his actions in the strongest possible way,” Thomas-Greenfield said yesterday on CBS News “Face the Nation.” Thomas-Greenfield’s rhetoric sounds forceful but isn’t likely to help the ongoing peace talks where all parties need to calm down, not escalate the rhetoric. “Our voices have been unified wit the Europeans and with the world that he needs to cease his actions toward Ukraine,” referring to the war raging on Ukrainian soil. Everyone wants the war to end but more belligerent rhetoric from the White House doesn’t invite the kind of conditions needed to go to peace table and end hostilities.
Thomas-Greenfield should be taking a more measured approach, largely because Putin’s war in Ukraine is not with United States. Yet with Putin saying that Ukraine has become a U.S. puppet state, Putin’s attack on Ukraine very well might be on the United States. Thomas-Greenfield certainly speaks like Putin invasion was happening in America. Saying Russia was “under no threat” from the U.S. military, Thomas-Greenfield essentially admits that the U.S. and NATO are supplying Ukraine offensive and defensive weapons. Putin’s main complaint to Biden was that Ukraine has been receiving U.S. and NATO lethal weapons for months and has now become a provocative threat to the Russian Federation. White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki also hasn’t helped the current atmosphere, insisting that China condemn the Russian invasion. China did exactly the opposite, supporting Putin.
Biden has given the green light to all his underlings to denigrate the Russian Federation and China, not holding back for any reason. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, 59, and 45-year-old National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan make daily disparaging remarks about Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping. Biden’s let-it-all hang-out approach, letting White House officials routinely attack U.S. enemies, has harmed U.S.-Russian and U.S.-Chinese relations to the point that the U.S. operates alone in complicated world affairs. Thomas-Greenfield exposed U.S. foreign policy clearly, saying it was “unified with the Europeans,” no longer leading from American strength. For the last 70 years of foreign policy, the U.S. relied not only on traditional allies but from adversaries as well. Biden can no longer count on any foreign policy help from Russia and China.
No one wants war in Ukraine or anywhere else but the world’s too complicated to see Biden officials cheerleading against Russia and China. “This is a pattern that we’ve seen from President Putin through the course of this conflict, which is manufacturing threats that don’t exist in order to justify further aggression—and the global community and the American people should look at it through that prism,” Psaki said. Psaki’s should stick to the facts and not opine about things she knows little about. When it comes to Putin’s nuclear threats, Psaki’s the last one the White House should let do the talking. White House officials, like Psaki and Thomas-Greenfield should not hurt ongoing peace efforts by continuing unnecessary hostile rhetoric. U.S. officials have removed themselves from playing any constructive role in peace negotiations between Russia and Ukraine because of the White House abysmal relations.
White House officials should be muzzled to stop making the prospects of peace more remote. It’s no joke that Russian forces are getting closer to Kiev. Unless the U.S. and NATO are ready to commit boots on the ground or at least air support, Kiev could be laid to waste in short order. Listening to the fake news talk about how frustrated Putin is with the progress of the Ukraine invasion, the Russian military has practically taken over the country. Kiev Mayor Vitali Klitschko, who has a target on his back for leading the Feb. 22, 2014 CIA-backed coup, said Kiev has been circled, with supplies dwindling and no exit. Russia announced for ordinary citizens there’s an exit rout for anyone that wants to safely leave Kiev. No one at the White House should create any more hostility in the Kremlin than already exists, instead talking openly about how Russian’s security concerns can be resolved.
