LOS ANGELES.–On his way out Jan. 20, 2025, 81-year-old President Joe Biden, only three days from his 82nd birthday, authorizes 46-year-old Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to strike deep inside Russia with U.S. and NATO long-range missiles. Biden has been on the sidelines after dropping out the 2024 campaign July 21 but, suddenly, while at Manaus in the Brazilian rainforest on his way to the G20 in Rio de Janeiro, declares that it’s OK for Zelensky to use Army Tactical Missile System [ATACM] to strike Moscow or anywhere else in Russia. Since the start of the war Feb. 24, 2022, Biden restricted Zelensky to confine his attacks inside Russian territory. Noting recent attacks by Russia on Ukraine’s infrastructure, Biden defied 78-year-old Donald Trump’s request to deescalate attacks before his inauguration Jan. 20, 2025. Trump had a congratulatory call, but unverified, from Putin last week, asking the Russian leader to back off new attacks.
Biden’s decision to let Ukraine strike Russia with U.S.-made long-range missiles violate a red line for Putin in which he warned of a U.S. direct involvement. So, there’s no question that if Zelensky goes ahead with long-range missile strikes deep inside Russia, it could prompt Putin to retaliate in kind, possibly using a tactical nuclear weapon. Putin said the use of U.S.-made long-range missiles would signal the U.S. in direct war with the Kremlin. “Strikes are no made with words,” Zelensky said. “Such thing are not announced. The missiles will speak for themselves,” Zelensky said, threatening that Ukraine would pick its targets inside Russia carefully, knowing that he’s violating Trump’s wishes to deescalate the war not intensify it before Biden leaves office. If Putin hits Kiev with nuke, Biden will have blood on his hands for his final legacy of the Ukraine War: A failed policy.
Zelensky is all pumped up thinking that hitting Russia with U.S.-made ATACMs will change the outcome of the nearly three-year conflict. Ukraine has lost some 20-25% of its sovereign territory battling the Kremlin since Feb. 24, 2022. Putin and the Kremlin see the war as one between the U.S. and Moscow, not primarily between Ukraine and Moscow. Putin considers the Zelensky’s Kiev government as a puppet regime of the United States. “And this is the answer to everyone who tried to achieve something with Putin through talks, phone calls, hugs, and appeasement,” Zelensky said, throwing more gasoline on the fire with his sarcastic remarks. Biden’s decision was a response to North Korea sending some 10,000 troops to Russia’s Kursk border region where Ukraine launched an invasion Aug. 6, seizing thousands of square miles inside the Russian border.
North Korea and Russia signed a mutual defense treaty Nov. 11, all because Biden decided he would fund proxy war against the Kremlin to help Ukraine oust over 200,000 Russian troops in Ukraine. Biden’s war with the Kremlin in Ukraine ended decades of diplomacy, détente and arms control with the Russian Federation, now considered mortal enemies. Before Biden, the U.S. was strategic, cooperative partners with Russia, counting on each other for intel and military help in areas of global instability. Now there’s virtually no cooperation on bilateral issues or global cooperation. Moscow would be a big help in securing safe passage for commercial shipping in the Red Sea, now turned into a war zone by Iran’s Houthi rebels. Putin would have helped with the Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s influence over Houthi rebels and Hezbollah militia in Lebanon.
Biden’s decision to join Ukraine’s war with the Kremlin wrecked decades of U.S.-Russian relations, ending nuclear nonproliferation or arms control. Every U.S. president since Harry Trump worked on arms control to gain control over nuclear arsenals, especially so they don’t fall into the hands of rogue states or today’s terror groups. Iran has been enriching uranium at its Fordo enrichment plant since 2012. U.S. nuclear experts think the Ayatollah seeks to build Iran’s first nuclear bomb, something Iran denies. But since Trump cancelled the Iranian Nuke Deal May 8, 2018, the so-called Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action [JCPOA], Ayatollah said there’s no longer any restriction of Iran’s uranium enrichment. Most nuclear experts, foreign and domestic, think Iran enriches uranium enrichment to weapons grade material, looking to build its first A-bomb.
Biden’s reckless decision to give Zelensky the green light to retaliate with long-range missile strikes deep inside Russia could prompt Putin to launch a devastating response, possibly a nuclear strike on Kiev. On his way to retirement Jan. 20, 2025, there’s just no excuse to escalate the war with Trump coming into office with the stated intent to end the conflict. Biden showed he’s more than angry for leaving the 2024 race, watching 60-year-old Kamala Harris get shellacked by Trump Nov. 5. Biden still believes he would have been a better candidate, despite endorsing Kamala to replace him in 2024. When it comes to the Ukraine War, Kamala said she would have continued Biden’s policy of supplying cash-and-arms to Ukraine until Putin pulled out his troops from all Ukraine. Biden and Harris refuse to admit a total failure in Ukraine with Zelensky losing some 20-25% of Ukraine’s sovereign territory.
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.
