LOOS ANGELES.–Russian President Vladimir Putin, 72, hosted a BRICS summit in Kazan yesterday to add to his economic coalition designed to break the U.S. monopoly on dollar-drive foreign transactions. When you consider the Ukraine War rages with no end in sight, the BRICS meeting certainly had its undercurrents but, most importantly, finding common ground for China and India, both BRICS members, usually at odds with each other. Since the Ukraine War began Feb. 24, 2022, 81-year-old President Joe Biden tried to alienate Moscow, calling Putin’s war an “unprovoked and unjustified” naked land grab. Circumventing economic sanctions, Putin found away around the lost of U.S. and EU oil and natural gas sales, augmenting losses with gains selling cheap Russian oil to China and India, putting strain on U.S. foreign policy, driving China and India to economic partnerships with Russia.
Hosting the BRICS conference, with new participants like Iran, Egypt and Ethiopia, overlooks the Ukraine conflict for the purpose of building up their economies, adding new important trading partners. China and Brazil, two key BRICS participants, have watched their peace overtures rebuffed by Ukraine’s 46-year-old President Volodymyr Zelensky, accusing other countries to backing the Russian Federation. Brazilian President Luiz da Silva and Chinese President Xi Jinping called on Ukraine to go to the peace table. Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris says she’ll continue to fund proxy war with the Kremlin, unwilling to go to the peace table unless Putin agrees to get all Russian troops out of Ukraine. Biden thought he would have a global coalition against Putin but finds BRICS economic cooperation the key to undermining the Ukraine War.
Funding proxy war in Ukraine with the Kremlin, Biden ended decades of diplomacy, detente and arms control, turning a cooperative partner into a global enemy. Biden and 59-year-old Vice President Kamala Harris are so deeply buried in the Ukraine War they can’t see a way out, regardless of the consequences. Biden-Harris won’t admit two weeks before the Nov. 5 election that the war has failed. Biden once thought that funding Ukraine would break the Russian military, something that never happened. Biden can’t admit his plan to vanquish the Russian military has failed, with Russia getting stronger in the last three years, taking 20-25% of Ukraine’s sovereign land. Now Biden and Zelensky feel boxed into a corner, refusing to move the conflict to the peace table where it needs to be settled. Several members at the BRICS summit in Kaza expressed their desire for a peaceful resolution.
Instead of discussing with Putin new security arrangements for Ukraine, Biden ignored Putin’s requests for months in 2021-2022 before Putin initiated what he called a “special military operation,” moving 200,000 troops in the Ukrainian border. Of course the Ukraine War actually started Feb. 22, 2014 when a CIA-backed coup toppled the Kremlin-backed Kiev government of Viktor Yanukovych. Putin was forced to seize Crimea to protect in Black Sea naval base in Sevastopol, Crimea. Today’s Ukraine War was a direct consequence of former President Barack Obama and Biden arming Ukraine to the teeth over Kremlin objections. Putin knew all the U.S. and NATO arms would eventually go to war against the Kremlin. Three years later, Putin’s prophecy proved correct.
Now hosting the BRICS summit, Putin shows how he’s out-maneuvered Biden by circumventing U.S. and EU sanctions, showing that several countries remain neutral in Ukraine War. Chinese President Xi Jinping, 72, and 74-year-old India Prime Minister Narenda Modi want peace in Ukraine but they also have overriding business ties to the Russian Federation. Both buy copious amounts of Russian oil, typically at below-market prices. Biden’s Ukraine War has taken a stand against Russian aggression but undermined U.S. foreign policy and national security. Biden has too much invested in the Ukraine War to get out with honor, to move the conflict to the peace table where Ukraine would be forced to trade land for peace. If President Donald Trump, 78, becomes president, he promises to end the Ukraine War as a first order of business.
Biden’s failed Ukraine War policy has damaged U.S. foreign policy and national security. Funding proxy war against the Kremlin drove Russia into a close economic, military and strategic partnership with Communist China. Instead of working with all parties to achieve a negotiated settlement, Biden and Zelensky opted for war with the Kremlin that has backfired. Russian controls more Ukrainian territory today than it did at the start of the Ukraine War Feb. 24, 2022. Developing the BRICS economy block, Putin has insulated himself from U.S. and EU sanctions and has more clout going into any peace negotiations with Ukraine. Ukraine’s doesn’t have the endless resources to fight a perpetual war with the Kremlin without U.S. government largess. Whatever the issues between Ukraine and Russia, the U.S. can’t continue to destroy global partnerships to defend Ukraine’s interests.
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.
