Biden takes tough-on-Putin message to fractious allies | The Business Standard
Skip to main content
  • Home
  • Economy
    • Aviation
    • Banking
    • Bazaar
    • Budget
    • Industry
    • NBR
    • RMG
    • Corporates
  • Stocks
  • Analysis
  • World+Biz
  • Sports
  • Features
    • Book Review
    • Brands
    • Earth
    • Explorer
    • Food
    • Habitat
    • In Focus
    • Luxury
    • Mode
    • Panorama
    • Pursuit
    • Wheels
  • Epaper
    • GOVT. Ad
  • More
    • Subscribe
    • Videos
    • TBS Graduates
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • COVID-19
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Tech
    • Magazine
  • বাংলা
The Business Standard

Tuesday
December 05, 2023

Sign In
Subscribe
  • Home
  • Economy
    • Aviation
    • Banking
    • Bazaar
    • Budget
    • Industry
    • NBR
    • RMG
    • Corporates
  • Stocks
  • Analysis
  • World+Biz
  • Sports
  • Features
    • Book Review
    • Brands
    • Earth
    • Explorer
    • Food
    • Habitat
    • In Focus
    • Luxury
    • Mode
    • Panorama
    • Pursuit
    • Wheels
  • Epaper
    • GOVT. Ad
  • More
    • Subscribe
    • Videos
    • TBS Graduates
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • COVID-19
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Tech
    • Magazine
  • বাংলা
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 05, 2023
Biden takes tough-on-Putin message to fractious allies

Analysis

Jordan Fabian, Josh Wingrove, and Alberto Nardelli, Bloomberg
23 March, 2022, 09:25 pm
Last modified: 23 March, 2022, 09:33 pm

Related News

  • US to impose visa bans soon on Israeli extremist settlers for West Bank violence
  • Zelenskiy praises Ukrainians for battles with Russia and the weather
  • Trudeau, EU leaders talk Ukraine and climate at Canada summit
  • Biden turns 81 as worries about his age weigh on re-election prospects
  • Biden says Palestinian Authority should ultimately govern Gaza and West Bank

Biden takes tough-on-Putin message to fractious allies

The desire to showcase a common resolve against Russian President Vladimir Putin can’t hide the reality that for all the strong words, there is no will to intervene militarily in a bloody conflict at NATO’s door

Jordan Fabian, Josh Wingrove, and Alberto Nardelli, Bloomberg
23 March, 2022, 09:25 pm
Last modified: 23 March, 2022, 09:33 pm
Biden takes tough-on-Putin message to fractious allies

President Joe Biden faces a crucial test of his ability to project power and reassurance amid the biggest European security crisis in decades, as he seeks to rally US allies around harder-hitting sanctions to punish Russia for invading Ukraine.

Biden will join back-to-back summits Thursday with NATO, the Group of Seven and the European Union in Brussels, where the over-arching need to paper over cracks in international support for Ukraine will collide with disagreements over how far to target energy, given Europe's reliance on Russian gas.

The desire to showcase a common resolve against Russian President Vladimir Putin can't hide the reality that for all the strong words, there is no will to intervene militarily in a bloody conflict at NATO's door. The stakes have been raised by the fear that Putin could resort to deploying weapons of mass destruction, as well as unease over the role of China and how Russia's most powerful diplomatic ally may seek to exploit the crisis.

The Business Standard Google News Keep updated, follow The Business Standard's Google news channel

In a stirring address to the US Congress last week, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy presented graphic video footage of Russia's bombardment of Ukraine and switched to English to call on Biden to be the "leader of the world," citing the US's example in changing the outcome of World War II. The last time the US stepped in directly to end a conflict in the region was in the Balkans during the 1990s.

Since then, a series of foreign-policy setbacks culminating in the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan have dampened US enthusiasm to intervene in another conflict. Biden has already rejected one of Zelenskiy's key demands, to close Ukrainian air space, arguing it would result in fighting between the US and Russia, two nuclear-armed powers.

But he is under pressure to figure out how else to turn up the heat on Putin without alienating allies or precipitating a broader war. As the conflict enters its fourth week, Russia's military campaign has faltered, yet its forces have occupied considerable territory in the country's south and east with mounting civilian casualties.

Sanctions, Energy Plans

Biden's national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, said at a briefing Tuesday that in Brussels, the president and European allies will join "in imposing further sanctions on Russia and tightening the existing sanctions to crack down on evasion and to ensure robust enforcement."

They'll also announce "joint action on enhancing European energy security and reducing Europe's dependence on Russian gas at long last," Sullivan added.

He didn't elaborate on either announcement. 

The Wall Street Journal reported that new sanctions announced as soon as Thursday would include penalties on more than 300 members of Russia's State Duma, the lower house of parliament.

The most poignant and emotionally charged part of Biden's trip will come on Friday when he visits Poland, a NATO ally that is hosting the biggest number of displaced Ukrainians in what has become the worst refugee crisis in Europe since the Second World War.

There is also mounting alarm over how to respond to any potential use of chemical weapons by Russia. The US has repeatedly warned that Moscow may be planning to stage a pretext to use such weapons.

"I think it's a real threat," Biden told reporters at the White House Wednesday morning as he set off for Europe. He declined to preview his remarks to European leaders.

Russian use of chemical or biological weapons may see countries such as Germany back sanctions on Russia's energy exports, according to one person familiar with the matter, a move that Berlin and others have so far resisted.
In all this, Biden will need to ensure that European allies are on the same page when it comes to communicating to China the consequences of providing Russia with any material support or help softening the blow of sanctions. 

"We believe we're very much on the same page with our European partners, and we will be speaking with one voice on this issue," the White House's Sullivan said.

One EU official said allies will discuss how to send a joint message to Beijing, though it's not clear how hawkish the tone would be. France in particular believes the NATO allies shouldn't push too hard against China, two officials said.

"If it's seen at all that there are fractures in the relationship publicly, that will be damaging to Ukraine and that will be emboldening for Russia," said Josh Lipsky, a former State Department official in the Obama administration. "If it's seen -- both from a stagecraft and policy perspective -- that there's still unity in a way that Putin never expected, then I think he will see that he underestimated the West."

Popular in Europe

Biden, nevertheless, can expect a warm welcome in Europe. Public approval ratings of US leadership on the continent have soared under Biden, polling by Gallup found. US approval has declined in just one NATO member: Lithuania, an eastern-flank nation that borders Belarus.

But this week's meetings will test the limits of the US's power, should either Biden or his European counterparts push for bolder moves that some have been reluctant to take -- particular on energy. A major question hanging over the meetings is how hard to strike at Russian energy shipments, the lifeblood of its economy.

The US has banned all imports of Russian fuels, while Canada and the UK have banned crude oil. But Europe relies much more heavily on oil and gas from Russia. Germany and Hungary downplayed chances of a potential embargo on Russian oil ahead of the summits, deepening divisions over how to further punish Moscow.

There are signals that additional US pressure could be seen as grandstanding, given Europe has more to lose. As France's EU Affairs Minister Clement Beaune pointedly said earlier this month: "Americans have done it, but the Americans barely consume Russian gas."


Disclaimer: This article first appeared on Bloomberg, and is published by special syndication arrangement.   

Top News / Women Empowerment / USA

Joe Biden / President Joe Biden / Ukraine / Ukraine crisis / Ukraine -Russia conflict / Russia sanction

Comments

While most comments will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive, moderation decisions are subjective. Published comments are readers’ own views and The Business Standard does not endorse any of the readers’ comments.

Top Stories

  • Record 27% nominations scrapped with  more bigshots rejected
    Record 27% nominations scrapped with  more bigshots rejected
  • Bolivian President Hugo Banzer shakes hands with Victor Manuel Rocha, the then U.S. Ambassador to Bolivia, during a ceremony in the Goverment Palace in La Paz, August 3, 2000. File photo DM/JP/HB, Routers
    US charges ex-ambassador with spying for Cuba over decades
  • Smoke rises from chimneys at a factory in the port of Dunkirk, France January 19, 2023. REUTERS/Yves Herman/File photo
    Global CO2 emissions from fossil fuels to hit record high in 2023: report

MOST VIEWED

  • LPG cylinders. Photo: Courtesy
    12kg LPG cylinder price up Tk23
  • For the first time, Bangladesh seeks foreign loans to support Rohingyas
    For the first time, Bangladesh seeks foreign loans to support Rohingyas
  • Photo: Collected
    Indonesia volcano erupts, spews ash 3 km into sky
  • External trade through Islamic banks in decline
    External trade through Islamic banks in decline
  • Halal products export receives boost with new policy, but more is required
    Halal products export receives boost with new policy, but more is required
  • Exports up 27% in Nov as peak festival sales begin in West
    Exports up 27% in Nov as peak festival sales begin in West

Related News

  • US to impose visa bans soon on Israeli extremist settlers for West Bank violence
  • Zelenskiy praises Ukrainians for battles with Russia and the weather
  • Trudeau, EU leaders talk Ukraine and climate at Canada summit
  • Biden turns 81 as worries about his age weigh on re-election prospects
  • Biden says Palestinian Authority should ultimately govern Gaza and West Bank

Features

Masud Ahmad has written one of the finest Bangla novels in recent times, titled ‘Kanchanfuler Kobi,’ centred around the life and works of eminent poet Jibanananda Das. Photo: Rajib Dhar

How little-known Masud Ahmad became the 'Shera Bangali'

23h | Panorama
Designed for utility, the D90 is a giant in comparison to other MG models and misses out on design elements which gives the other models their sporty stance. Photo: Akif Hamid

Maxus D90: Spacious, capable and practical

1d | Wheels
Maria Callas: Remembering the soprano diva on her century

Maria Callas: Remembering the soprano diva on her century

16h | Features
Photo: Touseful Islam

Last sip of coffee with cats: Bidding adieu to Capawcino

1d | Features

More Videos from TBS

Despite the incentives, remittances are not speeding up

Despite the incentives, remittances are not speeding up

11h | TBS Economy
Terrible Torture in Israeli Prisons: Testimony of Prisoners

Terrible Torture in Israeli Prisons: Testimony of Prisoners

9h | TBS World
Lighterage ship trips halved

Lighterage ship trips halved

11h | TBS Economy
3 commercial ships hit by missiles in Houthi attack in Red Sea

3 commercial ships hit by missiles in Houthi attack in Red Sea

12h | TBS World
EMAIL US
[email protected]
FOLLOW US
WHATSAPP
+880 1847416158
The Business Standard
  • About Us
  • Contact us
  • Sitemap
  • Privacy Policy
  • Comment Policy
Copyright © 2023
The Business Standard All rights reserved
Technical Partner: RSI Lab

Contact Us

The Business Standard

Main Office -4/A, Eskaton Garden, Dhaka- 1000

Phone: +8801847 416158 - 59

Send Opinion articles to - [email protected]

For advertisement- [email protected]