Russia somehow believes it has a pedestal of morality to be standing on despite their current conflict in Ukraine. After President Biden finally did something to point blame at Russia for the conflict, they are issuing the best version of taking their ball and going home they could come up with. Except they aren’t leaving Ukraine. Instead, they want to leave their agreements with the US.
As Biden held talks with UK, France, Germany, and Italy on Monday he made certain to call Putin what he is – a war criminal. Given his blind bombardment of Ukraine and his tactics at targeting hospitals and civilian locations, the label is accurate. Something Putin could not stand as he called the US ambassador to Moscow to issue an official protest over being labeled this way. While a formality, it does not affect how things go.
The Russian foreign ministry also issued its statement on the issue. Claiming that “it was emphasized that remarks such as these by the American president, which are unworthy of a state figure of such a high rank, put Russian-American relations on the verge of a breach”. The relations have already been on the rocks as the US and other countries opted to impose sanctions on Russia to try and cripple them economically.
However much of the European Union is getting their oil and natural gas from Russia. With the current difficulties in getting oil out of the ground in the US and on offshore platforms, we are not able to help. Our oil and gas prices have surged because of this conflict, and we have become an oil-importing country once again. The steps taken by President Biden have only made us a weaker nation on our own, and it’s so bad even the Russians think we depend on them to survive.
Ned Price, the state department spokesperson explained how ironic the threats by the Russians are. “It’s awfully rich to hear a country speak about ‘inappropriate comments’ when that same country is engaged in mass slaughter, including strikes and attacks that have resulted in civilian lives [lost], strikes and attacks, barrages that have leveled civilian cities, an invasion of 100,000 plus forces against a largely civilian population,” His explanation here is spot on with just how bad the Russian invasion has gotten.
Yet as Biden speaks out, Putin looks for his safe space, the rest of the world is stuck sitting back and watching. Nobody can directly provide support to Ukraine for fear it could inadvertently trigger WWIII. Putin has threatened to step up his war experience and methods of attacks. Adding the supersonic missiles to his arsenal and then using them was already a substantial growth step for him.
Given the nuclear capabilities of Russia, and the substantially childlike temper tantrums he has thrown thus far, Americans are right to be concerned about the idea of sending our boys and girls over there. While we as Americans have thoroughly vowed to protect the weaker, and the Ukrainian people have proven that they are no slouches, so through other countries, we have been providing assets to include stinger missiles.
With Putin calling to cut ties you just cannot help but laugh. This man who has portrayed himself as the epitome of all that is the man in Russia has been shoved around by a country that has yet to truly attack in kind, but who has only fought off their advances. Given how quickly his troops gave up, and how much they handed over to the Ukrainian farmers, one must wonder just how weak the man and his country are. The other question now is also how dare he try and say anything about someone talking negatively about his childish war crimes. He knows what he did, and he knows why it was wrong. Now to see if he’ll cut ties or if he’ll try to mend fences.
