Joe Biden Finally Emerges a Day Later to Speak on Russia’s Full-Scale Invasion of Ukraine – Opinion

RedState reports that Russia launched an invasion in full force against Ukraine on Wednesday night. This was after several days worth of incremental steps, during which Vladimir Putin spoke publicly many times to support war.

Joe Biden wasn’t there as the tanks moved across the border, and airstrikes began. Only the White House had the strength to issue a statement in writing confirming that Biden will not be speaking until Wednesday. The president seemed to have lost all ability to address the people as Europe invaded.

Biden was able to make a briefing on the issue. He spoke out about the imposition of additional sanctions including ones targeting Russian banks and tech imports to Russia.

Biden declares that the U.S. has sanctioned Russian banks more, including the largest of its “that controls more than one third of Russia’s banking assets,” the “largest government-owned enterprises” and the “names of the Russian elites and their families who were sanctioned.” pic.twitter.com/qNfx0qYiju

— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) February 24, 2022

But while Biden’s remarks were long on rhetoric, including another pointless threat to cut Putin out of the international community (as if he cares), they were short on specifics that could actually deter Russia. China has already increased Russian imports and Putin spent many years protecting his country against the negative effects of economic sanctions.

The question remains if a full-scale invasion of Ukraine isn’t enough to trigger the worst sanctions, including disconnecting Russia from the SWIFT system, then what is? Biden has not provided an explanation for their questions. The president claimed that his sanction package outweighed any SWIFT action. However, he did not provide evidence.

Biden also threatened US oil companies by warning them to not price gouge. Yet, that ignores that the global cost of oil is skyrocketing — and was skyrocketing long before Russia made its move into Ukraine. Further, the president’s words come across as deflecting from the fact that his administration has crushed domestic energy production for no logical reason whatsoever, handing Putin leverage he did not have under the Trump administration.

Biden eventually answered several questions. All of them were quite combative considering the circumstances. The majority of the questions addressed my concerns.

ABC’s @CeciliaVega to Biden: “Sanctions clearly have not been enough to deter Vladimir Putin…What is going to stop him? What and when will it end? Do you think he is trying to get beyond Ukraine? And…is he threatening a nuclear strike?” pic.twitter.com/xpc2cNFAiW

— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) February 24, 2022

After wrapping up the press conference, President Trump left without offering any clarity on what was to follow. A number of pertinent questions were also left unanswered, such as why the sanctions against Russia were lifted in the first instance. The sanctions now going into place appear to have been dictated by the Germans, and there’s little reason to believe they will deter Putin.

Biden could not or refused to explain the reasons his strategic plan was so successful when asked. That’s going to leave Americans feeling as if they are in the dark, even as they are being asked to shoulder higher energy costs. The administration is refusing to take any domestic steps to alleviate the pain. That won’t be lost on voters as we head towards the midterms, and while Biden may get a short-term boost, there’s no reason to believe it lasts.