Past U.S. policy toward Russia looms over how Biden confronts Putin on Ukraine

Past U.S. policy toward Russia looms¹ over how Biden confronts Putin on Ukraine

Transcript²

Russian President Vladimir Putin shakes hands with President Biden prior to a U.S.-Russia summit in Geneva in June.

Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images

President Biden is leaning into his history with Russia as he confronts the crisis in Ukraine.

Early in his State of the Union address, the president addressed a challenge that many of those who have previously³ faced the Russian leader say is at the crux⁴ of Biden's current problems with Vladimir Putin.

"Throughout our history we've learned this lesson — when dictators do not pay a price for their aggression⁵, they cause more chaos," Biden said. "They keep moving. And, the costs and threats to America and the world keep rising."

Republican critics say the chaotic⁶ U.S. withdrawal⁷ from Afghanistan emboldened⁸ Putin, who had put troops on the border well before the Afghan debacle, to attack Ukraine. But government advisers¹⁰ and former U.S. officials from Republican and Democratic administrations say the bigger problem is how the United States and allies have handled past Russian incursions since the mid-2000s — and whether it was possible to stop Putin from doing what he has signaled he will do for more than a decade.

Putin's long-held concerns

Russia has claimed that NATO's eastward¹¹ expansion was a reneging of commitments made to it during the collapse¹² of the Soviet¹³ Union.

Fifteen years ago, Putin delivered a fiery¹⁴ speech to the Munich Security Conference seething¹⁵ about the alliance adding members.

"It represents a serious provocation¹⁶ that reduces the level of mutual¹⁷ trust," he told world leaders. "And we have the right to ask: Against whom is this expansion intended?"

That speech set the stage for what came next: A year later, in 2008, Russia invaded Georgia. In 2014, it annexed¹⁸ Ukraine's Crimea, and later backed separatists in eastern Ukraine.

The United States and allies repeatedly condemned¹⁹ Russia's actions and imposed harsh economic sanctions on Moscow.

But little changed.

Heather Conley, a former State Department official in the George W. Bush administration, said the Western measures were simply not strong enough and filled with loopholes.

"How the United States and European countries do sanctions, the long, slow turning up the temperature, it's just ineffective," said Conley, who is now the president of the German Marshall Fund.

Warnings go unheeded

Biden tried to warn Putin publicly and privately²⁰ that invading Ukraine would be disastrous²¹ for the Russian economy and hurt the Russian leader's standing²² in the world.

"There were no minced²³ words. It was polite, but I made it very clear: If in fact, he invades Ukraine, there'll be severe consequences," Biden told reporters the morning after a call in early December.

A senior administration official said they'd been making the case to Putin, privately and publicly, for months.

"That is part of why [CIA] Director [William] Burns went to Moscow on Nov. 2 to say to Putin and his inner circle, 1) 'We see what you're doing.' And, 2) 'These will be the consequences.' "

National security adviser⁹ Jake Sullivan made the point publicly in December after Biden and Putin spoke²⁴.

"I will look you in the eye and tell you, as President Biden looked Putin in the eye and told him today, that things we did not do in 2014 we are prepared to do now," Sullivan told reporters in December.

But it did not change Putin's plans. The Russian leader even said he expected more sanctions in a speech announcing the invasion.

The Biden administration is now haunted by the unwillingness²⁵ of earlier administrations not taking a strong enough stand, said Andrea Kendall-Taylor, who advised the Biden transition team on Russia policy.

"The proof is in the pudding," said Kendall-Taylor, who is now director of the Transatlantic Security Program at the Center for a New American Security. "The fact that we are here again suggests that the costs of the past have not been significant enough for President Putin. I think that is a hard lesson that many folks in this administration learned during the Obama administration."

Like Biden, who was vice²⁶ president at the time, many of his top aides also wrestled²⁷ with the 2014 annexation²⁸ of Crimea during the Obama administration. Secretary of State Antony Blinken was then deputy secretary of state. Sullivan worked with Biden in the vice president's office. Other top diplomats²⁹, including Wendy Sherman, Victoria Nuland and Amanda Sloat, also served in senior roles at the State Department.

Kendall-Taylor said that the administration clearly learned lessons from the experience, citing the unprecedented³⁰ level of sanctions that have since been imposed against Russia — largely cutting it off from the global economy.

New package of sanctions is severe. At the same time, no one should have any illusions that these sanctions will change Putin's thinking or actions anytime soon. Their effectiveness, tragically³², will have to be measured over years, not weeks or months.

— Michael McFaul (@McFaul) February 24, 2022

The release of strategic intelligence

The senior administration told NPR that the experience provided other lessons that helped expose Putin's false pretenses³³ for war.

The official said they were determined³⁴ not to allow Russians to exploit "the information space" and use the "fog of war" to sow confusion and advance their strategic objectives.

"Throughout this crisis, we have made a concerted determination that we are not going to cede³¹ that space," the official said, noting the strategic release of intelligence to allies and the general public. "We're going to take the fight to them in the information space."

But that history also hasn't stopped questions about whether Biden could have acted earlier to stop Putin.

Samuel Charap, who was a top adviser in the Obama administration, says it's wrong to blame Biden for Putin's actions, but questioned whether the United States could have been more creative in addressing more of Putin's requests.

One of Putin's key demands was that Ukraine not be admitted into NATO.

The United States has made clear that NATO's open door policy, that allows any qualified³⁵ European country to join, was not changing, but Charap points out that allies have taken few steps to admit Ukraine into the bloc³⁶.

"There is a case to be made that the U.S. should have put more things on the table because the consequences of this conflict are going to be so tremendous," said Charap, who is now a senior analyst³⁷ at the Rand Corp.

A senior administration official said NATO's policy is not changing, but Biden has also said the idea that "Ukraine is going to join NATO in the near term is not very likely."

The official said the reality is Putin has "very publicly and very explicitly," long before the Biden administration, stated the plans that he's now carrying out.

1 looms   

n.织布机( loom的名词复数 )v.隐约出现，阴森地逼近( loom的第三人称单数 )；隐约出现，阴森地逼近

参考例句：

• All were busily engaged,men at their ploughs,women at their looms. 大家都很忙，男的耕田，女的织布。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The factory has twenty-five looms. 那家工厂有25台织布机。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

3 previously   

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

• The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
• Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。

4 crux   

adj.十字形；难事，关键，最重要点

参考例句：

• The crux of the matter is how to comprehensively treat this trend.问题的关键是如何全面地看待这种趋势。
• The crux of the matter is that attitudes have changed.问题的要害是人们的态度转变了。

5 aggression   

n.进攻，侵略，侵犯，侵害

参考例句：

• So long as we are firmly united, we need fear no aggression.只要我们紧密地团结，就不必惧怕外来侵略。
• Her view is that aggression is part of human nature.她认为攻击性是人类本性的一部份。

6 chaotic   

adj.混沌的，一片混乱的，一团糟的

参考例句：

• Things have been getting chaotic in the office recently.最近办公室的情况越来越乱了。
• The traffic in the city was chaotic.这城市的交通糟透了。

7 withdrawal   

n.取回，提款；撤退，撤军；收回，撤销

参考例句：

• The police were forced to make a tactical withdrawal.警方被迫进行战术撤退。
• They insisted upon a withdrawal of the statement and a public apology.他们坚持要收回那些话并公开道歉。

8 emboldened   

v.鼓励，使有胆量( embolden的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Emboldened by the wine, he went over to introduce himself to her. 他借酒壮胆，走上前去向她作自我介绍。
• His success emboldened him to expand his business. 他有了成就因而激发他进一步扩展业务。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 adviser   

n.劝告者，顾问

参考例句：

• They employed me as an adviser.他们聘请我当顾问。
• Our department has engaged a foreign teacher as phonetic adviser.我们系已经聘请了一位外籍老师作为语音顾问。

10 advisers   

顾问，劝告者( adviser的名词复数 )； （指导大学新生学科问题等的）指导教授

参考例句：

• a member of the President's favoured circle of advisers 总统宠爱的顾问班子中的一员
• She withdrew to confer with her advisers before announcing a decision. 她先去请教顾问然后再宣布决定。

11 eastward   

adv.向东；adj.向东的；n.东方，东部

参考例句：

• The river here tends eastward.这条河从这里向东流。
• The crowd is heading eastward,believing that they can find gold there.人群正在向东移去，他们认为在那里可以找到黄金。

12 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。

13 Soviet   

adj.苏联的，苏维埃的；n.苏维埃

参考例句：

• Zhukov was a marshal of the former Soviet Union.朱可夫是前苏联的一位元帅。
• Germany began to attack the Soviet Union in 1941.德国在1941年开始进攻苏联。

14 fiery   

adj.燃烧着的，火红的；暴躁的；激烈的

参考例句：

• She has fiery red hair.她有一头火红的头发。
• His fiery speech agitated the crowd.他热情洋溢的讲话激动了群众。

15 seething   

沸腾的，火热的

参考例句：

• The stadium was a seething cauldron of emotion. 体育场内群情沸腾。
• The meeting hall was seething at once. 会场上顿时沸腾起来了。

16 provocation   

n.激怒，刺激，挑拨，挑衅的事物，激怒的原因

参考例句：

• He's got a fiery temper and flares up at the slightest provocation.他是火爆性子，一点就着。
• They did not react to this provocation.他们对这一挑衅未作反应。

17 mutual   

adj.相互的，彼此的；共同的，共有的

参考例句：

• We must pull together for mutual interest.我们必须为相互的利益而通力合作。
• Mutual interests tied us together.相互的利害关系把我们联系在一起。

18 annexed   

[法] 附加的，附属的

参考例句：

• Germany annexed Austria in 1938. 1938年德国吞并了奥地利。
• The outlying villages were formally annexed by the town last year. 那些偏远的村庄于去年正式被并入该镇。

19 condemned   

adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He condemned the hypocrisy of those politicians who do one thing and say another. 他谴责了那些说一套做一套的政客的虚伪。
• The policy has been condemned as a regressive step. 这项政策被认为是一种倒退而受到谴责。

20 privately   

adv.以私人的身份，悄悄地，私下地

参考例句：

• Some ministers admit privately that unemployment could continue to rise.一些部长私下承认失业率可能继续升高。
• The man privately admits that his motive is profits.那人私下承认他的动机是为了牟利。

21 disastrous   

adj.灾难性的，造成灾害的；极坏的，很糟的

参考例句：

• The heavy rainstorm caused a disastrous flood.暴雨成灾。
• Her investment had disastrous consequences.She lost everything she owned.她的投资结果很惨，血本无归。

22 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

23 minced   

v.切碎( mince的过去式和过去分词 )；剁碎；绞碎；用绞肉机绞（食物，尤指肉）

参考例句：

• He minced over to serve us. 他迈着碎步过来招待我们。
• A young fop minced up to George and introduced himself. 一个花花公子扭扭捏捏地走到乔治面前并作了自我介绍。 来自《简明英汉词典》

24 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

25 unwillingness   

n. 不愿意，不情愿

参考例句：

• Her unwillingness to answer questions undermined the strength of her position. 她不愿回答问题，这不利于她所处的形势。
• His apparent unwillingness would disappear if we paid him enough. 如果我们付足了钱，他露出的那副不乐意的神情就会消失。

26 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

27 wrestled   

v.（与某人）搏斗( wrestle的过去式和过去分词 )；扭成一团；扭打；（与…）摔跤

参考例句：

• As a boy he had boxed and wrestled. 他小的时候又是打拳又是摔跤。
• Armed guards wrestled with the intruder. 武装警卫和闯入者扭打起来。 来自《简明英汉词典》

28 annexation   

n.吞并，合并

参考例句：

• He mentioned the Japanese annexation of Korea in 1910 .他提及1910年日本对朝鲜的吞并。
• I regard the question of annexation as belonging exclusively to the United States and Texas.我认为合并的问题，完全属于德克萨斯和美国之间的事。

29 diplomats   

n.外交官( diplomat的名词复数 )；有手腕的人，善于交际的人

参考例句：

• These events led to the expulsion of senior diplomats from the country. 这些事件导致一些高级外交官被驱逐出境。
• The court has no jurisdiction over foreign diplomats living in this country. 法院对驻本国的外交官无裁判权。 来自《简明英汉词典》

30 unprecedented   

adj.无前例的，新奇的

参考例句：

• The air crash caused an unprecedented number of deaths.这次空难的死亡人数是空前的。
• A flood of this sort is really unprecedented.这样大的洪水真是十年九不遇。

31 cede   

v.割让，放弃

参考例句：

• The debater refused to cede the point to her opponent.辩论者拒绝向她的对手放弃其主张。
• Not because I'm proud.In fact,in front of you I cede all my pride.这不是因为骄傲，事实上我在你面前毫无骄傲可言。

32 tragically   

adv. 悲剧地，悲惨地

参考例句：

• Their daughter was tragically killed in a road accident. 他们的女儿不幸死于车祸。
• Her father died tragically in a car crash. 她父亲在一场车祸中惨死。

33 pretenses   

n.借口（pretense的复数形式）

参考例句：

• They obtained money under the false pretenses of patriotism. 他们以虚伪的爱国主义为借口获得金钱。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He obtained money from her under false pretenses. 他巧立名目从她那儿骗钱。 来自辞典例句

34 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

35 qualified   

adj.合格的，有资格的，胜任的，有限制的

参考例句：

• He is qualified as a complete man of letters.他有资格当真正的文学家。
• We must note that we still lack qualified specialists.我们必须看到我们还缺乏有资质的专家。

36 bloc   

n.集团；联盟

参考例句：

• A solid bloc of union members support the decision.工会会员团结起来支持该决定。
• There have been growing tensions within the trading bloc.贸易同盟国的关系越来越紧张。

37 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。