NBC’s Kristen Welker Presses National Security Advisor on Criticism That Biden is ‘Being Too Weak’ With Putin
NBC News chief White House correspondent Kristen Welker pressed National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan on Tuesday on criticism from Republicans that the Biden administration has been weak on Russia.
The question came during a White House briefing with Sullivan and press secretary Jen Psaki just hours after President Joe Biden’s virtual meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, amid concerns of Russia possibly invading Ukraine.
“Some Republicans are accusing President Biden of being too weak on President Putin. They cite the fact that sanctions were eased on Nord Stream 2 and the withdrawal from Afghanistan, which was widely criticized,” said Welker. “How do you respond to that criticism that President Biden is being too weak to Mr. Putin?”
Sullivan responded with “three points.”
The first is that Vladimir Putin standing behind then-President [Dmitry] Medvedev in 2008 invaded Georgia when we had 150,000 or more troops deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan, so the connection between our deployments and foreign wars and the calculus of Russian leaders when it comes to the post-Soviet space, there’s not good evidence to support that.
Number two, when it comes to Nord stream 2, the fact is, the gas is not currently flowing through the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, which means it’s not operating. Which means that it’s not leverage for Putin. Indeed, it is leverage for the West because if Vladimir Putin wants to see gas flow through that pipeline, he may not want to take the risk of invading Ukraine.
And then number three, the president has shown over the course of the past eight months that he will to what he says he will do in response to Russian action, so President Putin can count on that. He said he will impose costs for [Russian dissident Alexei] Navalny, that he would impose costs for [the] Solar Winds [hack]. He did so and if Russia chooses to take these actions in Ukraine, he will do the same.
He’s not doing this to saber-rattle. He’s not doing it to make idle threats. He’s doing it to be clear and direct with both the Russians and our European allies about the best way forward. And we think this stands the best chance alongside a pathway to deescalate to avert a potential crisis with respect to an invasion of Ukraine.
The White House had a readout of the Biden-Putin meeting:
President Biden voiced the deep concerns of the United States and our European Allies about Russia’s escalation of forces surrounding Ukraine and made clear that the U.S. and our Allies would respond with strong economic and other measures in the event of military escalation. President Biden reiterated his support for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and called for de-escalation and a return to diplomacy. The two presidents tasked their teams to follow up, and the U.S. will do so in close coordination with allies and partners. The presidents also discussed the U.S.-Russia dialogue on Strategic Stability, a separate dialogue on ransomware, as well as joint work on regional issues such as Iran.
Watch above, via MSNBC.
