Biden spearheads a fresh effort to solidify the West's military campaign in Ukraine against Putin and Trump.
Leading the wealthiest democracies in the world, President Joe Biden is adamantly telling Russian President Vladimir Putin that the West will not abandon Ukraine, even in the face of political upheavals that raise concerns about its commitment.
On the fringes of the G7 conference in Italy on Thursday, Biden will personally meet with President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine in an attempt to reaffirm a pledge he made last week on the Normandy battlefields, where fascism first started to crumble eighty years ago.
"We refuse to back down, as doing so will result in Ukraine being subjugated and the conflict not ending there," stated Biden, standing in the middle of the graves of almost 9,000 fallen American soldiers and the last living US veterans of the D-Day invasion. "The neighbors of Ukraine will face threats." There will be a menace to all of Europe. The world's autocrats are keeping a careful eye on events unfolding in Ukraine.
However, Biden's endeavor will face mounting worries in Europe that he will serve as little more than a stand-in for one of Donald Trump's governments. Decades-old assurances that the United States will always ensure Europe's security and act as a stabilizing influence in transatlantic affairs were dashed by the ex-president's term, which concluded in 2021. And when Trump meets with Republican senators and House members on Capitol Hill on Thursday to show off his hold on the Republican Party, the "autocrats of the world" that Biden said will undoubtedly be keeping an eye on things. Two weeks after Trump was found guilty of a crime, and less than five months before the presumed Republican nominee asks voters to put him back in the White House, the show of power will take place.
Unquestionably, Biden's personal, political, and diplomatic commitment to Ukraine will serve as the cornerstone of his presidential legacy. However, doubts regarding the West's sustained commitment are tenaciously persistent. Zelensky must be concerned about it since it is driven by shifting political currents on both sides of the Atlantic.
With his constant attacks on NATO, Trump, who despises Ukraine, extols Putin, and shows little concern for the security of Europe, may be less than five months away from retaking the White House. Significant victories by far-right parties in this weekend's European Parliament elections, particularly in France and Germany, two major voting blocs, may complicate future EU support for Ukraine. Furthermore, Putin's readiness to subject thousands of Russians to the brutality of war without experiencing any political fallout in a country riddled of political rivals means that there's always a chance the West will grow weary of the fighting before he does.
However, it appears that the US and its allies are making a rush of new efforts to try and “Trump-proof” Ukraine's Western lifeline and to get Kyiv closer to Western defense and economic structures in case Biden and the other shaky G7 leaders who formed the first wave of support following the Russian invasion disappear. However, no US president can actually force his heir to follow a certain path of action. Additionally, even if Biden wins in November, future US generosity cannot be assured due to America's turbulent politics and the torturous delays in getting the most recent $60 billion assistance package for Kyiv through Congress.
A rush of fresh Western initiatives to support Ukraine
However, the most recent intentions from the West to support Ukraine convey a clear message of intent.
—Only three days after departing, Biden's arrival back in Europe on Wednesday perfectly summed up his position as the most proactive Western alliance leader since President George H.W. Bush. Observed by both US allies and foes, time on the presidential calendar is a consistent indicator of a White House's priorities.
—Just before he departed for Italy, the administration announced fresh penalties on over 300 people and organizations with the goal of impeding the parallel economy the Kremlin has established to get around earlier US penalties. This economy includes a large number of Chinese channels. The restrictions restrict Russian access to some US software and information technology and target foreign financial corporations supporting Putin's war campaign. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen declared, "Russia today has become a war economy," announcing policies intended to increase the expense of that fight. "Russia keeps putting its future at risk in order to maintain its arbitrary war against Ukraine."
“Biden and Zelensky are anticipated to sign a bilateral security agreement in which the US agrees to increase cooperation in the production of weapons and equipment and to educate Ukraine's armed forces for a period of ten years. Biden's national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, told reporters aboard Air Force One, "We want to demonstrate that the US supports the people of Ukraine, that we stand with them, and that we'll continue to address their security needs not just tomorrow but out into the future." Nevertheless, if Trump were to win, it would not be difficult for him to renounce the "executive agreement.""
—US officials are also hopeful that months of negotiations on a $50 billion economic support package to finance the repair of Ukrainian infrastructure, to be financed by the interest on frozen Russian assets, will be approved at the G7 summit, which brings together the US, France, Britain, Germany, Japan, Italy, and Canada.
These actions are anticipated to be strengthened by a new NATO package that would formalize military support for Ukraine and be announced at the alliance summit in Washington later this summer. Nevertheless, Zelensky's illusive need for a precise timeline for admittance into the Western alliance would not be realized by this action.
Russian combat advances
These are significant and believable shows of political, economic, and diplomatic support for Ukraine. However, they arrive at a precarious moment for the nation, with its existence far from certain.
For example, the most recent battlefield assessment from the Hudson Institute notes "a worrisome trend" of small victories across several fronts, including eastern and northern Ukraine.
The report found that half of Kyiv's capacity to produce electricity has been destroyed by relentless Russian attacks on civilian infrastructure. This highlights the reason why, even in mid-June, concerns about the fate of Ukrainian civilians in the upcoming winter are growing, as Russia is expected to intensify its previous attempts to use the annual chill as a weapon.
Senior European officials have expressed concern about an increasing threat to Europe's territorial integrity as a result of Russia's progress in reconstructing a military apparatus that was startlingly destroyed on the route to Kyiv two years ago. Meanwhile, the arrival of a convoy of Russian ships in Cuba with undertones of the Cold War is serving as a reminder of the wider tensions that exist between the US and Russia.
Finished During a briefing at the Hudson Institute this month, General Wesley Clark, the former Supreme Allied Commander of Europe, cautioned that underestimating the strength of the Russian military would be incorrect, given the ridicule in the West that followed the defeat of the Kremlin expeditionary force and its subpar strategy and leadership earlier in the conflict.
According to Clark, "the Russian character and force are structured around grinding forward—grinding forward through poor leadership decisions, regardless of losses." "Never undervalue them. They are rather intelligent in theory. China, Iran, and the lifting of sanctions are all in support of them.
An inspiring moment came when Ukraine bravely resisted the Russian invasion in the beginning of 2022. However, after more than two years, the blue and yellow flags that formerly appeared to be flying everywhere in Western cities have faded and grown ragged.
An exciting war becomes an arduous slog.
While trying to maintain support for Kyiv, many foreign leaders have been obliged to prioritize their personal issues due to an unprecedented period of uncertainty in developed-world politics. The fight in Ukraine, which recalls the bloodshed of World War I trench warfare and a terrifying new era of warfare with swarming drones bringing death to troops in their fox holes, was eclipsed by a new war after Hamas terror strikes on Israel.
A tone of annoyance has occasionally seeped into some of the worn-out Zelensky's conversations with the West.
When meeting with Zelensky at the D-Day event, Biden apologized for the delay in delivering the most recent US aid package, which the Ukrainian leader had expressed his dissatisfaction about in no uncertain terms. He has also voiced his frustration that international leaders have not accepted his offer to a summit in Switzerland following the G7, which was intended to bring the world together behind his vision of how a final peace agreement to end the conflict might look.
Biden won't be there since he is taking a few days off from the campaign trail to visit Europe. Instead, Sullivan will be joined by Vice President Kamala Harris.
It should come as no surprise that Zelensky has long objected to the self-imposed restrictions on Western assistance for his war effort, which are a sign of Biden's primary goal of preventing a direct NATO conflict with Russia. Critics of the US president have long charged that he is simply providing Kyiv with the tools to stay in the war, not the resources to win it. However, Biden has since consented to the use of some US weaponry types under specific conditions for operations involving Ukraine on Russian territory.
Biden is committed to "taking bold steps to show Mr. Putin that time is not on its side and that he cannot outlast us, as we support Ukraine's fight for freedom," according to White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby.
A Russian leader who relentlessly refuses to shift course at whatever cost, however, is contributing to the rising tide of political conflict, high stakes elections, and ideological alienation between globalists and isolationists in Western nations. Thus, concerns about the West's durability will persist no matter how long the conflict lasts.
