Biden was offered three times a year to impose sanctions against Russia: why he refuses all the time - ForumDaily
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Biden was offered three times a year to impose sanctions against Russia: why he refuses all the time

The Russian troop buildup near Ukraine is drawing criticism that President Biden and his team are not being tough on the Kremlin. Politico.

Photo: Shutterstock

When officials from the National Security Council approached President Joe Biden earlier this year with a package of sanctions to be imposed on Russia, he sent it back to them three times.

It is not powerful enough, he told them, according to two former US officials who were briefed on the events.

Given Moscow's recent maneuvers, it may have been worthwhile for Biden to send the package back a fourth time.

Alarming the United States, other NATO and European Union members, Russian leader Vladimir Putin is once again gathering troops along his country's western borders.

Senior US officials are warning Putin not to make further attempts to invade Ukraine.

Meanwhile, analysts say Putin may be trying to take advantage of the growing dispute between Belarus, which backs the Kremlin, and its European neighbors, to wreak havoc in the region and render NATO weak.

This spring, the Kremlin has dispatched thousands of soldiers to its border with Ukraine, which it has been at war with since the Russian invasion in 2014.

But this latest flare-up appears more serious, especially with added tensions involving Belarus and its NATO neighbors, current and former U.S. officials said.

Alexander Lukashenko faces sanctions pressure from the United States and European neighbors, who are challenging his 2020 election victory and a crackdown on dissent.
He has threatened to cut off energy supplies to parts of the continent, a move that will likely require Russian approval.

Lukashenko also sends migrants from the Middle East and elsewhere to his country's borders with Poland, Lithuania and Latvia. Critics call it human trafficking and a humanitarian crisis.

These events exacerbated frustration in some corners of the US foreign policy establishment over the Biden's team's overall approach to Russia, namely that it was too lenient and too cautious.

Biden himself has long distrusted Putin and, at least in the past, has advocated a tough line on Moscow.

There are others in his administration, such as the senior State Department official Victoria Nuland, who are considered hawkish when it comes to Russia.

Secretary of State Anthony Blinken also tends to lean toward the hawks.

National security adviser Jake Sullivan, his top deputy John Feiner and Biden's international climate envoy John Kerry are the three people most often cited as advocating a more cautious line on Russia.

The call for caution stems from the notion that Washington needs to work with Moscow to achieve certain goals, such as climate change mitigation or nuclear arms control.

A senior Biden administration official has abandoned the idea of ​​warring camps.
“Outsiders may use crude categories, but that’s not how it works in practice,” the official said.

“No one discusses recommendations or opinions according to the hawk or dove doctrine. Our relationship with Russia is complex, and to say that certain people are inherently hard or soft is an oversimplification of how we deal with those complexities,” he said.

Some of the same former US officials said that any disagreements between members of the administration should not be exaggerated - that they are part of the natural process of debate and discussion in any presidential team and often come down to who prioritizes what.

On the subject: Russia tested anti-satellite weapons and nearly disabled the ISS: the United States is indignant

Any significant disagreement over Russia between Biden’s administration officials will disappear if Putin takes any rash moves, especially in Ukraine, as one former senior State Department official predicted.

Biden's decision to limit the number of sanctions his administration has imposed on the Russian-German gas pipeline known as Nord Stream 2 was one example of how debates within the administration seemed to have led to a compromise.

In this case, Biden had to weigh the interests of Germany, a US ally, and decided not to spoil relations with Berlin over a pipeline that Washington has long opposed.

Some analysts believe Putin's recent moves should push Washington to rethink.

“Russia’s military moves toward Ukraine raise real questions about the administration’s current balance between confronting and engaging with the Kremlin,” said Andrea Kendall-Taylor, director of the Transatlantic Security Program at the Center for a New American Security.

“I think it is clear that the balance should shift more towards confrontation,” she added.

This confrontation could take any form, from imposing new economic sanctions - including on Putin himself or his wealthy associates - to sending more weapons to Ukraine's armed forces.

A visible display of US solidarity with other NATO members could also help, given that Lukashenka’s actions involving migrants against his neighbors put a strain on this military alliance.
Putin and Lukashenko have a rocky relationship.

After Lukashenko announced that he could prevent Russian gas, which is in transit through his country, from reaching European countries that depend on it, Moscow insisted on fulfilling its contractual obligations for gas supplies.

Nonetheless, the Kremlin appears to support, if not directly encourage, some of Lukashenko's actions.
On November 12, Russian state media reported that Moscow had sent paratroopers to Belarus for joint exercises.

“Putin may be using, and in fact may even be behind, Lukashenko's arming of migrants and refugees to distract attention from what he may be planning in Ukraine,” one former US official said.

Poland sent thousands of troops to the border with Belarus in response to the influx of migrants there.
Meanwhile, Russia has twice in recent days flew over Belarus near Poland with nuclear bombers.

And on Friday, Britain said it was sending 10 soldiers - engineers - to help Poland fortify its border, the first concrete show of support the NATO member has given to countries struggling with an influx of migrants.

You may be interested in: top New York news, stories of our immigrants, and helpful tips about life in the Big Apple - read it all on ForumDaily New York.

“This is a very, very dangerous situation because Article 5 is under serious strain right now,” said Evelyn Farkas, a former Pentagon official in the Obama administration, referring to the NATO principle that an attack on one member is considered an attack on all members. .
“Putin would like nothing better than to demonstrate the uselessness of NATO,” she said.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on November 12 in Russian state media denied Western concerns about the movement of Russian troops.

“If necessary, we will take measures to ensure our security in the event of provocative actions by our opponents at our borders,” he said.

Biden administration officials declined to say whether they are planning new sanctions targeting Belarus or Russia in the wake of the growing crisis.

It is also unclear whether Biden will try to talk to Putin to stabilize the situation.

The presidents held a summit in Geneva in June, during which they expressed discontent and discussed how best to interact.

Cybersecurity is an area where periodic cooperation with the Kremlin can be beneficial, especially since many hacks and ransomware attacks on US organizations originate from Russian soil.

During the June summit, Biden stressed that America has significant cyber capabilities that it could channel against Russia if Putin does not crack down on cybercriminals on its territory.

It is difficult to say what effect this warning had. In recent months, there have been reports of an ongoing cyberattack from Russia.

Biden administration officials must also weigh the possibility that a US cyber-strike could lead to an unwanted escalation of the conflict with Russia.

“I am well aware that there is debate within the administration about the appropriate cyber response to Russia,” Farkas said.

“This is another area where the president realizes that if you are not tough on the Russians, they are not going to end their cyber aggression,” he added.

The Biden administration is trying to maintain contacts with Russia at all levels, including the presidential one.

His mantra from the outset was that he wants a "stable and predictable" relationship with Moscow, and that hasn't changed.

Some administration advocates say it requires balance and a long-term perspective.

“I wouldn't say it doesn't work. I mean, it's been about 10 months,” a former US national security official who has dealt with Russia said of the Biden team's approach.

“At the same time, of course, Russia, China and others are testing Biden. And Russian testing does not mean that they will not do stupid things. But we must know, be vigilant, but also not overreact, ”he added.

Biden administration officials declined to provide details of internal US government discussions on Russia, especially when it comes to who is on whose side.

However, in response to a question about the sanctions package that Biden has repeatedly sent back, a senior administration official said that Biden did not ask for the sanctions to be more punitive or harm the Russian people.

Rather, the president wanted to make sure the sanctions were smart and well thought out so that they could change the Kremlin's behavior.

The sanctions package, unveiled in April, included measures aimed at a range of Russian actions, from aggression against Ukraine to meddling in US elections and its efforts to suppress Russian dissidents.

“The bottom line is this,” Biden said then. — Where it is in the interests of the United States to work with Russia, we must and will. If Russia tries to violate the interests of the United States, we will respond."

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