At this moment, Ukraine and its president Volodymyr Zelensky are simply getting played by the Biden administration. Ukraine has been desperately trying to gain the unwavering support of the United States of America in order to achieve its own geopolitical goals against Russia. Although Joe Biden appears to commit to Ukraine regularly, when it comes to walking the talk, the 46th US President is almost always seen chickening out. In the aftermath of the US– Russia summit held in Geneva on Wednesday; it has now been revealed that the United States has halted a military aid package to Ukraine that would include lethal weapons.
Essentially, the Biden administration used Ukraine as a bargaining chip against Russia – and since Kyiv served no purpose for Joe after his meeting with Putin, it was unceremoniously dumped. It is no secret that Ukraine wants to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) immediately, so as to secure itself against Russian military manoeuvres in the region. However, Joe Biden seemed reluctant to let Ukraine into NATO, as prior to his meeting with Putin on Wednesday, he said Ukraine must ‘do more’.
Biden said, “It depends on whether they meet the criteria. The fact is they still have to clean up corruption and the fact is they have to meet other criteria to get into the action plan.” So essentially, what Biden meant was that Ukraine currently does not qualify to join the NATO – and what qualifications are required for the same, meanwhile, remain clouded with uncertainty. This means Ukraine is just a pawn which the Biden administration is using as leverage against Russia.
According to a report by Politico, the military aid package which has been tabled would have been worth up to $100 million and was originally made in response to alleged Russian troop movements along Ukraine’s border this spring. Officials of the National Security Council ended up putting the proposal on hold after Russia announced it would draw down troops stationed near Ukraine. Of course, it seems the decision has been predated to suit the Biden administration’s narrative. The reports of the lethal package being shelved for now came just around the time that the Russian and American presidents were meeting each other.
Read more: How Biden used Ukraine to his advantage and then dumped it the moment it served its purpose
According to two people with knowledge of the discussions, key items under consideration for the package include short-range air defence systems, small arms and more anti-tank weapons. Ukraine would have never thought that the United States would deprive it of a lethal military package, at a time when tensions between Moscow and Kyiv appear to be soaring. Joe Biden, however, has in his past few months as president, never shied away from disappointing America’s allies like Ukraine.
However, part of Biden’s confidence in halting the military package for Ukraine comes from the understanding that it was he who caused tensions between Kyiv and Moscow to inflame.
Ukraine has been scrambling for US support ever since Biden came to power. In fact, Volodymyr Zelensky was even hoping to meet President Joe Biden prior to the latter’s meeting with Vladimir Putin. However, such a meeting never happened. And then, Kyiv was expecting Joe Biden to ensure that a US-Russia joint statement mentions Ukraine. Here too, Zelensky was made to face disappointment as the Biden administration brazenly cold-shouldered Ukraine.
While American media wants everyone to believe that Biden is taking Russia to task, the reality is that silly old Joe is simply kowtowing Vladimir Putin and trying to impress him. After instigating Kyiv to heighten tensions with Moscow, which led to a Russian troop build-up on the Eastern border of Ukraine, the Biden administration chose to remove a large chunk of sanctions on the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline and the company building it – Nord Stream 2 AG. It must be mentioned that the Nord Stream 2 pipeline completely bypasses Ukraine, and gives Russia a direct gas supply route to Northern Europe and Germany.
In the backdrop of the United States lifting sanctions against the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, Zelensky said the completion of the pipeline would be “a personal loss” for Joe Biden and a “serious political victory” for Moscow. Sources say the decision to go ahead with lifting the sanctions on the pipeline was made personally by Joe Biden, despite opposition to the move by his own State Department. This goes on to show how Joe Biden does not have the best interests of Ukraine at heart.
Ukraine’s relationship with the ‘West’ has now reached a turning point. The lessons learnt by Kyiv this time around are just too tremendous for it to forget anytime soon. Rest assured; Ukraine will no longer do the American deep state’s bidding. Ukraine cannot afford a war with Russia, and it now understands that the Biden administration has offered it nothing more than lip service.