As a two-term vice-president, a politician for the last 50 years, and a former chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Joe Biden is no stranger to the drumbeat of war.
He confronted America’s weariness in Vietnam as a new Senator in the 1970s. He had a front-row seat to geopolitical tensions between the US and the Soviet Union in the 1980s. And he voted against the attack on Iraq during the Gulf War of the 1990s before inheriting the challenges of Syria and Afghanistan several decades later.
US President Joe Biden dramatically escalated his rhetoric against Vladimir Putin.Credit:AP
But Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has made Biden a slightly different kind of wartime president, as he tries to defeat a ruthless dictator without wanting the US to fire a single shot.
“For God’s sake, this man cannot remain in power,” Biden said of Russian President Vladimir Putin in a strongly worded speech in Poland today, which concluded a three-day trip to Europe to discuss the war on Ukraine.
“In this battle, we need to be clear eyed. This battle will not be won in days or months, either. We need to steel ourselves for the long fight ahead.”
Determined to avoid intervening militarily, Biden’s aim this week was to reinforce his alternative strategy: support Ukraine through security and humanitarian assistance; choke Russia’s economy with unprecedented sanctions; and galvanise the west by strengthening the NATO alliance.
President Joe Biden meets with Ukrainian refugees during a visit to PGE Narodowy Stadium in Poland.Credit:AP
The trouble, of course, is that this three-pronged approach requires something that Ukraine doesn’t have on its side: time.
That much became abundantly clear again when Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, declared that the nation was “very disappointed” in the outcome of Thursday’s NATO emergency summit in Brussels.
“We expected more bravery. We expected some bold decisions,” Yermak said during a video call with the Washington-based Atlantic Council.
No such luck. Indeed, when it came to the vital requests Zelensky has been making for weeks – such the creation of a no-fly zone or the handover of fighter jets that Poland had offered to supply via an American airbase in Germany – the US, which is reluctant to escalate the conflict, did not give any ground.
Instead, Biden used his otherwise forceful speech today to simply reiterate what had already been announced, such as his pledge to provide $1.35 billion in weapons and ammunition; the US commitment to take 100,000 of the 3.7 million refugees who have been displaced so far; or the ambitious plan to send more liquified natural gas to Europe this year.
Too many questions have also been left unanswered or ignored. What, for example, is the co-ordinated plan to counter a chemical attack should Putin decide to launch one?
Why is it taking so long for Zelensky to get the weapons he needs, as he has repeatedly lamented in recent days?
Which “other nations” will help the US boost natural gas exports to Europe to reduce the continent’s reliance on Russian energy, which is one of Putin’s greatest sources of income?
And was Biden deliberately calling for Putin to be removed when he passionately declared in his speech “for God’s sake, this man cannot remain in power”?
It certainly seemed like it – until a White House official issued a clarification almost immediately, telling reporters: “The President’s point was that Putin cannot be allowed to exercise power over his neighbours or the region. He was not discussing Putin’s power in Russia, or regime change.”
There’s no doubt today’s speech – delivered in the courtyard of a Polish palace that was bombed by the Nazi’s in 1939 – was nonetheless one of the most significant of Biden’s presidency so far.
Having labelled Putin “a butcher” earlier in the day for his unprovoked attack on Ukraine, Biden reminded his Russian counterpart that America had a “a sacred obligation” to defend NATO, so “don’t even think of moving on a single inch of NATO territory”.
A man rides a bicycle as black smoke rises from a fuel storage of the Ukrainian army following a Russian attack, on the outskirts of Kyiv. Credit:Rodrigo Abd/AP
He also ensured the Russian people that they were not the enemy, while telling the Ukrainians that “we stand with you”.
And he spoke of the refugees he met earlier in the day at Warsaw’s national stadium, emotionally recounting how he “saw tears in many of the mothers’ eyes as I embraced them, and young children who were not sure whether to smile or cry”.
“One little girl said: Mr President, is my brother and my daddy going to be OK? Will I see them again? I didn’t have to speak the language or understand the language to feel the emotion in their eyes… praying with a desperate hope that all this is temporary.”
Biden is well versed when it comes to war, but his botched withdrawal of US troops in Afghanistan last year left a stain on his supposed strong suit – foreign policy – and time will soon tell how the Ukraine crisis may ultimately shape his presidency, too.
Unfortunately, time is not a luxury for the brave Ukrainians fighting for their lives.
Get a note directly from our foreign correspondents on what’s making headlines around the world. Sign up for the weekly What in the World newsletter here.
Most Viewed in World
From our partners
Source: Read Full Article