Ukraine’s victory was never Biden’s goal, Time says
Pravda Ukraine
Time notes that President Joe Biden’s goals did not include Ukraine’s victory in the war against Russia.
Source: Time
Quote: “President Joe Biden set three objectives for the US response. Ukraine’s victory was never among them. The phrase the White House used to describe its mission at the time – supporting Ukraine ‘for as long as it takes’ – was intentionally vague. It also raised the question: As long as it takes to do what?”
Details: “We were deliberately not talking about territorial parameters,” says Eric Green, who was working on Biden’s National Security Council and oversaw Russia policy at the time.
In other words, the United States did not promise to help Ukraine regain all of the land occupied by Russia, let alone the vast territories in the east of Ukraine and the Crimean peninsula seized during Russia’s first invasion in 2014.
Green says that the reason was simple: the White House believed Ukraine was unable to do so, even with strong Western assistance.
Quote: “That was not going to be a success story ultimately. The more important objective was for Ukraine to survive as a sovereign, democratic country free to pursue integration with the West.”
Details: This was one of three goals Biden set.
He also wanted the US and its allies to remain united and insisted on avoiding direct conflict between Russia and NATO.
Looking back on his leadership during the war in Ukraine, which will certainly shape his legacy as a statesman, Biden achieved these three goals. However, success on these limited terms does not satisfy even some of his closest allies and advisers.
Quote from Green: “It’s unfortunately the kind of success where you don’t feel great about it. Because there is so much suffering for Ukraine and so much uncertainty about where it’s ultimately going to land.”
Details: The frustration of Ukrainians with Biden had been building throughout the invasion, and they expressed it more openly after the US presidential election ended in a victory for Donald Trump.
In a broadcast in early January, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that under Biden, the US had not done enough to impose sanctions on Russia and provide Ukraine with weapons and security guarantees.
Quote from Zelenskyy’s interview with Lex Friedman: “With all due respect to the United States and the administration, I don’t want the same situation like we had with Biden. I ask for sanctions now, please, and weapons now.”
Details: The publication notes that the criticism was extremely harsh and seems even more remarkable given the amount of support the US has provided to Ukraine during Biden’s time as president – US$66 billion in military aid alone since the Russian invasion in February 2022, the US State Department said.
Compared to all the aid that Congress has approved for Ukraine’s economic, humanitarian and other needs, this amount stands at around US$183 billion as of last September, according to Ukraine Oversight, a US government watchdog created in 2023 to monitor and account for all this aid.
However, Zelenskyy and some of his allies insist that the US has been too cautious in confronting Russia, especially regarding providing Ukraine with a clear path to NATO membership.
Quote from Zelenskyy during his last visit to the White House in September: “It is very important that we share the same vision for Ukraine’s security future – in the EU and NATO.”
Details: During that visit, Zelenskyy handed Biden a detailed list of requests, which he called Ukraine’s Victory Plan. In addition to calling for an invitation to join NATO, the plan called on the US to strengthen Ukraine’s position in the war with a significant new supply of weapons and permission to use them deep into Russian territory. At the time, Biden had announced that he would not run for a second term, and Ukrainians hoped that his lame-duck status would allow him to make bolder decisions, particularly to preserve his foreign policy legacy.
The calls were met with mixed reactions. Biden has not moved on the issue of Ukraine’s membership in NATO. But he did approve a number of steps that the White House had long rejected as too dangerous.
In November, the US allowed Ukraine to use US missiles to strike deep into Russia. And in January, the Biden administration imposed tough sanctions on Russia’s energy sector, including the shadow fleet of tankers that Russia uses to export its oil.
Although these decisions did not align with Zelenskyy’s wishes, they helped Biden make the case during his last foreign policy speech as president that the US had achieved its goals in defending Ukraine.
He remained careful, however, not to promise that Ukraine would regain some of its territory or even live to see the end of this war.
Russian leader Vladimir Putin “has failed thus far to subjugate Ukraine,” Biden said in a speech at the State Department on 13 January.
Quote from Biden: “Today, Ukraine is still a free, independent country, with the potential – the potential for a bright future.”
Quote from Time: “The future that Zelenskyy and many of his countrymen have in mind is one in which Russia is defeated. But in rallying the world to the fight, the implication Biden embedded in his own goals was that defending Ukraine against Russia is not the same as defeating Russia. So it is not surprising if that goal remains far from Zelenskyy’s reach.”
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