Later today, President Biden will be speaking to Russia's autocratic thug Vladimir Putin about the growing threat to Ukraine from Russia. Putin has positioned tens of thousands of troops and equipment near the border with Ukraine in the hope of extracting hard commitments from Biden and its western allies that Ukraine will not be allowed to join NATO. From Biden's part, Putin can expect severe economic sanctions from the U.S. and its western allies if Russia invades Ukraine. The U.S. and its NATO allies have consistently stated that a decision to join NATO is between them and Ukraine.
Putin has been making increasingly hostile statements recently centered around his belief that Ukrainians and Russians are one people, reminiscent of Hitler's designs on Austria, and German-speaking parts of Czechoslovakia and Poland prior to World War II. According to Ukrainian officials, Russia is trying to provoke a conflict by sending snipers and other special forces into eastern Ukraine. His puppet, corrupt Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych, was overthrown by a popular revolt in 2014, prompting Russia's retaliatory seizure of Crimea.
Putin runs a corrupt oligarchy -- much like organized crime in the U.S. -- that at times seems impervious to economic sanctions due to their ability to hide their assets around the world. His wealth derives from his oligarchs giving him enormous sums of money in exchange for continuing in business. Let's hope that Biden convinces Putin that the costs of invasion would turn his world upside down and inside out.
