Russian President Vladimir Putin, 69, announced today in a Moscow ceremony that the Russian Federation had annexed Ukrainian territories of Donetsk, Luhank, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia, all condemned by Western officials. President Joe Biden, 79, announced news sanctions against Russia’s Central Bank officials and families of the Russian Security Council. Whether the sanctions have any practical effect or not, Putin’s annexation is a symbolic move to slap Biden and 44-year-old Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelensky in the face. Putin’s move sends a strong message that the seven month war has gone in his favor, despite claims from the Western press. To hold votes and annex Ukrainian territories, it’s clear that Putin has firm control of the territory, letting the world know that seven months of war has netted the Russian Federation real results in the way of land.
If you listen to Biden and Zelensky, Putin has been displaced from much of its hold on Ukrainian territory, something today Putin says is not true. Annexing Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia proves for all to see, whether legitimate or not, that Putin has control of Ukrainian territory. Zelensky claimed his blitzkrieg counteroffensive was returning to Ukraine much of the land lost during the last seven months of war. Yet the discrepancy for the Western press involves the fake news that Putin was losing all the territory he once controlled in Ukraine. “I look forward to signing legislation from Congress that will provide an additional $1.2 billion to support Ukraine,” Biden said. But will Biden push for legislation in Congress that formally declares war against the Russian Federation? Russian expert 53-year-old Fiona Hill, a foreign policy adviser to former President Donald Trump, said the U.S. is in WW III.
Zelensky said today that he’s submitted an expedited application for NATO membership, something that would no doubt change Biden’s reluctance to commit U.S. and NATO troops to beat back the Russian advance. Zelensky has begged the U.S. and NATO for troops and a no-fly-zone from Day 1, only to be told that it’s not happening. Yet Zelensky knows that Biden committed Sept. 18 U.S. troops to defend Taiwan in the event of Chinese Communist invasion. With NATO’s Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg completing his term in year’s end, it’s doubtful Zelensky will hear anything on membership until after Stoltenberg retires. Stoltenberg opposed Ukraine’s NATO membership, not because he thought Ukraine was unsuitable but because it would start a shooting war with Russia on the European Continent. Zelesnky sees nothing wrong with the U.S. and NATO defending Kiev.
Biden said his reluctance to commit U.S. troops to the Ukraine War involved starting WW III, something Hill said today is already going on. When you consider the unlimited cash-and-arms supplied to Zelensky, Biden has said that the U.S. under his watch would not stop fighting the Russian Federation. Putin’s annexation today prompted Biden to impose more feckless economic sanctions. Biden warned Putin for months before the Feb. 24 invasion that the Kremlin would face the most crippling economic sanctions ever imposed on any country. Putin found a way to circumvent U.S. sanctions, especially its Russian oil embargo, by increasing petroleum and natural gas sales to Barzil, China, India and South Africa, the so-called BRICS economic bloc. Biden railed against other countries buying more oil and natural gas from Moscow but has no way to stop it from happening.
U.S. and EU already announced new sanctions against the Russian Federation when Putin announced Sept. 21 that he would call up 300,000 new conscripts to have the military personnel needed to accomplish his mission in Ukraine. Putin said clearly that the Kremlin would not stop until in controlled Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia. Today’s annexation ceremony infuriated Biden, saying the U.S. would never recognize Russian sovereignty. But what has the U.S. done in the past when Putin annexed in 2014 Georgia’s Russian-speaking South Ossetia and Abkhazia? Former President George W. Bush and his Vice President Dick Cheney did nothing to stop Russia. When Putin invaded Crimea March 1, 2014, former President Barack Obama and his Vice President Joe Biden did nothing. So, Putin knows that recognition of sovereignty means nothing.
Members of the U.N. know that Putin’s annexation of Ukraine sovereign territory violates the U.N. Charter. “This is a clear violation of internal law and the United Nations Charter,” said 59-year-old Secretary of State Antony Blinken. U.S. “unequivocally reject Russia’s fraudulent attempt to change Ukraine’s international recognized borders,” failing to recognize that the U.S. and Ukraine are in a war with the Russian Federation. International law changes when two or more nations are in armed conflict, when it comes to occupying sovereign territory. Blinken doesn’t acknowledge, like Fiona Hill, that the U.S. is battling WW III with the Russian Federation. Putin wants to deliver a strong message to Kiev and Washington that if they want Russia to stop its military campaign, the war must end. Biden and Zelensky have said they won’t end the war until Putin leaves Ukraine.
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.
