US Secretary of State Todd Walters has acknowledged that President Biden’s strategy to prevent Russia from invading Ukraine failed during a hearing before the House Armed Services Committee on Wednesday. Walters made the admission by answering questions from Wisconsin Republican MP Mike Gallagher. While Gallagher did not name Biden by name, he asked Walters about the effectiveness of the US effort to prevent a Russian invasion by civilian means in the months leading up to the invasion. “Did you, as a combat commander, feel that you were part of an inter-service effort aimed at preventing Vladimir Putin from invading Ukraine?” Gallagher asked. RUSSIA INVASES UKRAINE: LIVE UPDATES “That’s right,” Walters replied. “Prevention and deterrence”. “Would it be fair to say that the deterrent failed in Ukraine?” Gallagher pressed. “I would say number one is that NATO solidarity has remained,” Walters began, before being cut off by Gallagher, who is pushing for an immediate answer to the question. “I can not disagree with your conclusion,” Walters concluded. US GOVERNOR ESTIMATES ALMOST THREE QUARTERS OF RUSSIAN FORCES DEDICATED TO UKRAINE The exchange comes as the Biden government continues to insist that its threats of sanctions against Russia were never intended to prevent an invasion. “Let’s clarify something,” Biden told a reporter who pressed him on Thursday. “Remember if you covered me from the beginning, I did not say that, in fact, sanctions will stop him. Sanctions never discourage him. You keep talking about it. Sanctions never discourage him.” RUSSIAN FORCES GOLDED A RED CROSS WAREHOUSE IN MARIOPOLI However, Vice President Kamala Harris said otherwise when asked if she believed the sanctions would deter Putin in February. “Absolutely – we firmly believe – and also remember that sanctions are a product not only of our perspective as the United States, but of a common perspective among our allies. “And the alliance is such that we have agreed that the deterrent effect of these sanctions still makes sense, especially because – remember, too – we sincerely hope there is a diplomatic path from now on,” he said at the time. Foreign Minister Anthony Blinken also said in an interview with CNN in February that “the purpose of the sanctions in the first place is to try to prevent Russia from going to war.” CLICK HERE TO RECEIVE THE FOX NEWS APPLICATION White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki also confirmed that the purpose of Biden’s sanctions was to have a deterrent effect. “Sanctions can be a powerful tool,” Psaki said. “Many times have passed throughout history. And what we see in them – or how we see them as we start high, as Daleep just put it here, in terms of the importance and seriousness of the sanctions announced today – yes, our intention is to have deterrent effect “.
