By Matt Specalnick and Simon Lewis and Steve Holland
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – He has threatened to impose the toughest sanctions ever on Russia. He worked to galvanize US allies into a united front. He supplied Ukraine with more weapons than any US president before him. And he reinforced US forces on NATO’s eastern flank as a guarantee of his commitment.
Despite US President Joe Biden’s efforts to stop a Russian attack on Ukraine, President Vladimir Putin was adamant. On Thursday, Putin authorized what he called a “special military operation” in the Donbass region of eastern Ukraine, marking a new peak in post-Cold War tensions.
The scope of the offensive was not immediately clear. Explosions could be heard near Kiev and in other parts of the country, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Russia had carried out missile attacks on infrastructure.
Biden’s handling of the crisis, which Western officials fear could turn into the bloodiest European conflict since World War II, is likely to have profound implications for his political destiny and US relations with the world.
Biden promised that the United States and its allies would decisively respond to Russia’s “unprovoked and unjustified attack”.
But his handling of the biggest international crisis of his tenure as president has been considered a mixed bag until now.
Biden will always be limited because his government made it clear that it would do what it could to help Ukraine defend itself, but would not put troops on the ground.
His preference for diplomacy and sanctions reflects the dwindling American appetite for intervention after the hardships in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Putin had the advantage of knowing that Biden would not go to war with another nuclear power to protect a country that shares a long border with Russia — and with which Washington had no defense agreement.
FOCUS ON NATO’S EAST FLANK
Biden focused on coordinating with NATO allies, especially those in the east concerned about the spillover from Russia’s backlog of 150,000 troops on Ukraine’s borders.
A senior European diplomat described Biden’s consultations with allies as “exemplary”, a contrast to how many partners viewed the chaotic US withdrawal from Afghanistan last year.
Some analysts questioned, however, whether sending a few thousand additional US troops to Germany, Poland and Romania was enough and suggested Biden could have done more to maintain a credible military option.
“One of the shortcomings is that the deterrent package we developed is kind of asymmetrical in that it’s primarily economic and we’re facing a military threat,” said Ian Kelly, former US ambassador to the OSCE and Georgia.
Kelly claimed that Biden could have sought the activation of the NATO Response Force and sent it to Poland and the Baltic countries, with the message: “We are gathering troops on our border; we will withdraw when you withdraw.”
Analysts credit Biden with working with allies to prepare sanctions aimed at crippling the Russian economy and hitting Putin’s inner circle. He convinced Germany, long considered the weak link, to freeze approvals for the Nord Stream 2 pipeline.
Next steps could include an attempt to sever Russia’s ties to the global financial system.
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