President Joe Biden, 79, fresh off his victory lap of the Nov. 8 Midterm election, said in at a climate summit in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt that hoped 70-year-old Russian President Vladimir Putin would take his offer for a prisoner swap to get 32-year-old WNBA star Brittney Griner out of a Russian penal colony. While telling Griner’s wife Cherelle to her face that he’s doing everything possible to get Brittney out of prison, Biden doesn’t admit that his ongoing proxy war using Ukrainian troop against the Russian Federation has made any deal impossible. Biden thinks he can separate his proxy war against the Kremlin with his stated promise to do everything possible to get Brittney out of jail. Biden knows as long as he battles the Russian Federation, giving Ukraine unlimited cash-and-lethal weapons, Putin won’t be interested in striking a prisoner swap.
As Biden tells the world he’d meet with Putin if it involved Brittney Griner, hie Secretary of State Antony Blinken, National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan and White House Spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre say daily the Birttney was “wrongfully detained.” Kremlin Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has said repeatedly that Brittney violated Russia’s strict drug laws bringing cannabis vape-cartridges into Russia. Brittney confessed to the Moscow Judge during her trial that she accidentally tossed the vape-cartridge into her luggage before traveling to Moscow. Brittney told the same judge that she was issued a medical marijuana prescription by the State of Arizona to deal with chronic pain from basketball. So every time Biden and his national security team say Brittney was “wrongfully detained,” it pushes Russian authorities to keep her in prison.
Biden is hounded daily by the press about Brittney Griner, giving glib answers what the White House is doing. Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the public discussion of Brittney’s status does not help her release. Peskov said the Kremlin will not negotiate in the press terms-and-conditions for Brittney’s release. Saying Brittney was “wrongfully detained” does nothing but antagonize Putin and all Kremlin authorities. Whether Biden admits it or not, the biggest obstacle to getting Brittney out is the U.S proxy war against the Russian Federation. Biden made clear March 26 in Warsaw, Poland he wanted Putin removed from power. Biden’s Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Apil 26 in Ramstein, Germany that the aim of the U.S. war in Ukraine was to degrade the Russian military to the point it could no longer wage war . If that’s not a declaration of war, then what it?
Biden has crossed the line on defending Ukraine from a Russian invasion to fighting a White House proxy war against the Kremlin. Never before has any U.S. president since WW II gone to war against Russia, until know. If Biden wants any chance of Brittney getting out of Russian jail, he needs to shift the Ukraine conflict, over Kiev’s objections, to the peace table for a ceasefire and peace talks. Ukraine’s 44-year-old President Volodymyr Zelensky seeks revenge not peace with his Russian neighbor. Biden has made Zelensky rich, handing Ukraine over $70 billion in aid to fund the bankrupt Kiev government and war against Russia. Zelensky said two weeks ago that he would only negotiate with Russia if Putin is removed from office. Sullivan traveled to Kiev to help Zelensky see that the allies expect Kiev to consider peace talks with Putin as Russia’s president.
All the talk of Brittney’s life in a forced labor camp has spooked the media to the point they constantly hound White House officials for progress reports. How does Biden, Blinken, Sullivan or Sean-Pierre help Brittney’s chances of getting out when they constantly refer to Brittney as “wrongfully detained,” only showing U.S. contempt for the Russian system. Apologizing for Trump and talking about what the U.S. does for climate change in Sharm El-Sheikh won’t get Brittney Griner out of jail. Only moving the conflict to the peace table will open the door for a prisoner swap, not the one Biden offered in July, but one that gives Putin the best end of the deal. Putin can’t think of putting a deal together with Biden while he tries to oust him from office. Kremlin spokesman Peskov gave the White House some good advice about not making their case in the media.
Putin’s in no mood having taken recent losses in Kherson, handing the region controlled by Moscow since March back to Ukraine. Biden thinks he should celebrate what looks like a U.S.-Kiev victory in Kherson. In reality, Putin has redeployed his force to avoid a military confrontation with Ukraine’s counteroffensive. Putin said he would protect Russian troops now that the supply lines to Kherson have become more complicated. When the conflict eventually goes to the peace table, Putin knows that he’ll have to vacate most of the sovereign territory seized by the eight-months of war in any U.N.-brokered peace talks. Putin looks more content to consolidate his gains in Donetsk, Luhansk and Crimea. After Feb. 24 invasion, Putin offered Zelensky as deal if he recognized independence of Donetsk an Luhank and Russian sovereignty over Crimea. Zelensky rejected the offer.
About the Author
John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.om and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma
