President Joe Biden’s, 79, proxy war against 69-year-old Russian President Vladimir Putin has backfired, not only creating territorial losses to Ukraine but building new alliances for the Russian Federation. Once Putin invaded Ukraine Feb. 24, Biden slapped Putin with what he thought were crippling economic sanctions, boycotting Russian oil and natural to the U.S. and European Union. Biden thought he could wreck the Russian economy, hoping to get Putin to give up on his “special military operation” in Ukraine. But instead of punishing Russia, Biden has created oil shortages and skyrocketing prices in the U.S. and EU, fueling the worst inflation in decades. But beyond the strategic mistake of going after Moscow, Biden has caused runaway gas prices and inflation in the U.S. and EU. EU leaders continue to back the Russian oil boycott at great expense to Brussels.
Putin circumvented Biden’s crippling economic sanctions, shifting oil sales from the U.S. and EU to China, India, Brazil and South Africa, all have not joined the anti-Putin bandwagon. Putin met today in Tehran, for the first foreign visit since the Covid-19 global pandemic, finding ways to cooperate with Iran’s Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Iran recently asked to join the BRICS economic bloc, including Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, a real blow to Biden’s plans to force the Russian Federation out of Ukraine. Meeting with Khamenei was a smart move by Putin, letting Biden know that his Western Alliance can only go so far in containing Putin. Only a few weeks ago, Kiev and Washington insisted Putin suffered from a terminal illness or was close to a Kremlin coup against his leadership. British Chief of Armed Services Sir Tony Radakin said intel about Putin’s health was rubbish.
Putin’s move to exploit the BRICS economic block to sidestep U.S. and EU sanctions was a brilliant move by Putin, who, would like to sell oil and natural gas to everyone, including the U.S. and EU. Russia and China announced today the start of the Siberia 2 natural gas pipeline from Russia, through Mongolia, to China, giving China a source of cheap Russian natural gas for generations. Biden’s hostile relations with Russia and China, have driven a news strategic alliance, largely because the White House and State Department cannot do anything without insulting Moscow and Beijing. Expected to run 2,600 kilometers, From Russia to China, the project starts in 2024 but shows that China and Russia are part of the same economic market. How’s that supposed to work for Biden, while Russia and China deepen economic ties? Mongolia stands to gain revenue from the pipeline run through the country.
Putin sees current relations with the U.S. and EU not changing for some time. EU just inked a new natural gas pipeline deal with Azerbaijan, to double some 20 billion cubic meters of natural gas to the EU. What sheer hypocrisy to deal with Russian ally Azerbaijan, all because Biden wants to punish Putin over his “special military operation” in Ukraine. Aserbaijan has violated very human rights standard in its brutal treatment of Armenians in the mountainous Nagorno-Karabakh region where Azerbaijain troops desecrate historic Armenian orthodox churches and towns. So it’s OK for Brussels to do business with Muslim Azerbaijan but not OK in Russia? Why the EU has followed Biden over a cliff is anyone’s guess. No one in the EU believes that Putin has his eyes on former Soviet satellites now part of NATO in the Baltic States. Surely, the EU knows that Putin wouldn’t attack a NATO member, knowing the military consequences of invoking mutual defense Article 5.
Biden badly miscalculated in partnering with Ukraine to start a proxy war against the Russian Federation. All the talk of Russia’s poor morale, depleted equipment and personnel, were all debunked recently by the U.K.’s Military Chief Sir. Tony Radakin. War propaganda coming out Kiev has Putin on his last legs with terminal illness or the Kremlin planning a coup to out the 69-year-old Russian leader. Putin’s visit to Tehran tells the real story of Putin’s health, but, more importantly, his strategic thinking about forming alliances to defeat Biden’s economic sanctions. Meeting today with Khamenei and Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi show that Putin plays every angle, especially with U.S. enemies. How ironic that Biden created an enemy of Beijing, now pushed into a partnership with the Kremlin. It wasn’t that long ago when Biden had the temerity to insistthat Xi Jinping denounce Putin for the Ukraine War. Biden found out the hard way about loyalty and alliances.
Biden now looks poised to lose the Ukraine War, leaving Ukraine in shambles for years, losing the entire Black Sea Coast, all because Biden thought he would partner with Ukraine’s 45-year-old President Volodymyr Zelensky to battle the Russian military. Zelensky has been badly beaten on the Ukraine battlefield, leaving Ukraine partitioned, essentially land-locked from his Black Sea coast and ports. When Zelensky started the war, Putin offered him a way out, simply accepting the independence of Donetsk and Luhansk and recognize Russian sovereignty over Crimea. Zelensky told Putin he would not surrender one inch of Ukrainian territory. Before the Feb. 24 war, Ukraine did not control Donetsk, Luhansk or Crimea. Ukrainian officials are starting to see Zelensky’s failures on the battlefield. Watching Putin sit with Ayatollah Khaemnei should remind Biden how his foreign policy failed.
About the Author
John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.
