Washington, November 20
The buildup of Russian troops near Ukraine has left US officials perplexed, muddying the Biden administration’s response.
Some Republican lawmakers have been pressing the US to step up military support for Ukraine. But that risks turning what may be mere muscle-flexing by Russian President Vladimir Putin into a full-blown confrontation that only adds to the peril for Ukraine and could trigger an energy crisis in Europe.
But a weak US response carries its own risks. It could embolden Putin to take more aggressive steps against Ukraine as fears grow he could try to seize more of its territory. It could cause more political damage for President Joe Biden at a time his popularity is dropping.
Knowing how to strike the right balance would be easier if the US had a better understanding of what Putin was trying to accomplish. But top officials admit they don’t know.
“We’re not sure exactly what M. Putin is up to,” Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said on Wednesday. A week earlier, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said, “We don’t have clarity into Moscow’s intentions, but we do know its playbook.” Republican Mike Quigley, an Illinois Democrat and member of the House Intelligence Committee, said better understanding Putin’s intentions was critical “to avoid the mistakes that have started great wars”. “Any US response must be calibrated to avoid being an appeaser or a provocateur,” he said. — AP
(The article is generated from The Tribune via feeds, The Chenab Times staff didn’t wrote this news.)
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