“We Ukrainian mothers are ready to strangle (Putin) with our bare hands,” said a woman whose son remained to fight. Gathering a little girl wearing a pink coat and pigtails, Biden told her he wanted to take her home. The last words Biden would say during his last-minute wanderings in Europe turned out to be the most consequential, resonating widely as Air Force One departed for Washington. They surprised his aides, many of whom spent hours finishing the text of a speech that was considered by the White House to be an important moment for Biden’s presidency. The line Biden said was not in what they wrote. Gathered behind the scenes, White House officials hastily clarified – one of many on this trip alone – that Biden was not calling for regime change. But not before the Kremlin issued its own insulting response, saying the Russian governor “should not be decided by Mr. Biden.” The series of events that unfolded here on Saturday afternoon brought great relief to the extremely volatile atmosphere that pervades Europe as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine enters its second month. Putin’s show of aggression on the Ukrainian border followed a spontaneous but dynamic proposal by Biden for the Russians to find another leader. Biden’s views on Putin became increasingly obscure last month, officials said, sharpening his tongue to describe him as a “pure criminal”, a “murderous dictator”, a “war criminal” and, after visiting refugees in the stadium, “slaughter.” Aides said Biden had hoped to avoid the Cold War, a move by Washington against Moscow that Putin believed Putin wanted. Instead, he left Europe more directly than the Russian leader ever. Whether that was his intention seemed unclear. The clarification given by the White House was at least the third time in Biden’s trip, a White House official felt obliged to clear up the remarks made by the President and they seemed, on their own, shocking. Welcoming the heroism of the Ukrainians, Biden told US troops “you will see when you are there” – although he has promised that US forces will not enter the conflict directly. A spokesman later said nothing had changed: “The president was clear that we were not sending American troops to Ukraine.” And after Biden said he would respond “in kind” to Russia’s use of chemical weapons in Ukraine, National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan assured reporters that the United States “has no intention of using the chemical weapons period under any circumstances.” . Biden has an established pattern of speaking indifferently, though perhaps never with such high stakes. White House officials said before Biden’s speech that the president was working hard behind the scenes to strengthen cooperation between his counterparts. “He sleeps a lot less on this kind of trip than on other trips, because he just goes, goes, goes – he wants to talk to the next leader; you know, get the next briefing,” Sullivan said in the middle on Friday. of Biden flight. from Brussels to Rzeszów in southeastern Poland, where he met with American soldiers.
Biden returns to Washington with some victories having fun at home
Exactly one month after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Biden’s special visit to Europe was intended to demonstrate US determination as the continent faces its worst conflict since World War II. Aides said after months of phone calls and video conferencing from his basement room in Washington, Biden wanted to come here to meet leaders face to face at a critical juncture in the war. The timing of the summits was short, leaving some European officials in doubt that anything could emerge from the talks without the usual preparation time. Some Western officials were concerned that Biden’s insistence on a face-to-face rally was an attempt to impose decisions on some of the remaining stickers. Others worried that instead of strengthening unity among allies – which officials said shocked Putin – the visit would reveal the cracks that still exist. However, they have begun working with their US counterparts to sort out the so-called “deliverables” – these elements that leaders can then announce to show their constituencies that they are able to get things done. Even as Biden flew to Europe on Wednesday, the talks continued. In Air Force One, the President’s various policy experts came and went from his cockpit to the nose of the plane, informing him of the progress to the myriad of objects he hoped to achieve. Biden’s top national security adviser described the scene as “a quick rendezvous with the President on any issue under the sun” – albeit with higher stakes than perhaps any other moment in recent memory. Biden’s visit to Brussels is proving to bring innovations, including the announcement of a joint working group with Europe to wean it off its dependence on Russian oil and gas. But then even Biden acknowledged that the last-minute emergency rally was unlikely to force Russia to ease its slaughter in Ukraine, at least in the short term. “The answer is no,” Biden said when asked directly if anything that happened in Brussels would change Putin’s course. Instead, he said, “the most important thing is to stay united” for the next few months, which he said would eventually erode Putin’s ability and willingness to continue. “We have to show – the reason I asked for the meeting – we have to remain fully, completely, fully united,” he said.
The President is arming the West for a long battle
It was the clearest sign so far that 30 days after the Russian war, Biden and his team do not believe that the bloody conflict in Ukraine is coming to an end. “This battle will not be won in days or months,” Biden said in a speech Saturday afternoon. “We have to strengthen ourselves for a long fight ahead of us.” Even Russia’s claim on Saturday that it was limiting its military targets was met with private skepticism by US officials, who said they would look into what Putin is doing with his forces in the country before making an assessment. One of Biden’s goals in his visit to Europe was to give a human dimension to his decision-making by meeting with refugees and those who helped them, along with US troops he had deployed along the eastern edge of NATO to deter Putin. Biden said he hoped to see more, longing to visit Ukraine itself to testify to its plight. As senator and vice president, Biden was a regular visitor to U.S. war zones, which he said when he met troops about 60 miles from the border with Ukraine. “I have been in and out of Iraq and Afghanistan about 40 times,” he recalls. However, slipping over the border with Ukraine was never taken seriously by Biden’s aides. Unlike a stand in Iraq or Afghanistan, where US bases and personnel can help with airspace security, Ukraine is not an American war zone – a fact that emerged from Biden’s trip in as logistical as possible. and philosophers as he worked to determine the next phase of the conflict. For Ukrainians watching from their capital, Kyiv, this week’s summits have proved frustrating. NATO leaders remain firmly opposed to calls for a no-fly zone by President Volodymyr Zelensky, who did not even bother to ask again during virtual observations at Wednesday’s NATO summit. Instead, he merely pointed out that he had never received a clear answer to his request. “We are very disappointed, in all honesty. We expect more courage. Some bold decisions are expected. The alliance has made decisions as if there were no war,” Andriy Yermak, head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, said in a live interview. with the Atlantic Council on Friday. Even Biden’s commitment on Wednesday to respond proportionately to Putin’s use of chemical weapons in Ukraine was seen as a cold consolation by some Ukrainian officials. “What we have heard is that it is okay to die from bullets, it is okay to die from rockets, it is okay for my people to starve to death in the occupied cities. “But if and when chemical weapons are used, then you can imagine that it was extremely painful, that it was extremely embarrassing,” said Kira Rudik, a member of the Ukrainian parliament, in an interview with CNN’s Hala Gorani. “If everyone is so scared of Putin, why does Biden say we will change our minds if there is a chemical attack? Do you understand how harsh that sounds?” Rudick asked. Others in the region – at least those covered by NATO’s collective defense alliance – felt more confident. “We know what Russian imperialism stands for and we know what it means to be attacked by the Russian armed forces because our grandparents experienced it; sometimes even our parents experienced it,” Polish President Andrzej Duda told Biden. during the meeting. Friday. “Well, thank you for your presence,” he said. “And thank you, first and foremost, for your incredible leadership.”
