Watch: Biden in 2001 Praises Putin for Embracing the West, Compares Him to Peter the Great
A video unearthed from 2001 by the Republican National Committee’s research team revealed then-Senator Biden praising Russian President Vladimir Putin for embracing the West, heralding his actions as comparable to Peter the Great.
“I’m close to amazed by how far Putin seems to have come in making – throwing – his lot in with the West,” Biden said as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. “He seems to have – out of all the briefings I’ve gotten – actually stiff-armed his military and stiff-armed some of the browns and reds in his government and out of government.”
“And made a very – I don’t think anybody since Peter the Great has made such a significant – at least an initial move to the West,” Biden claimed:
In 2001, Biden said he was “amazed by how far Putin” has moved toward the West, then compares him to Peter the Great. pic.twitter.com/GANWitMWrs
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) February 22, 2022
Peter the Great was the first Emperor of Russia. Through multiple wars, he expanded the nation into a major European power. He also moved to transpose medieval political systems with the western enlightenment.
Biden’s comparison of Putin with Peter the Great is unfounded. Putin is seeking to restore the lost twentieth-century boundary of the old Soviet Union and denied the “real statehood” of Ukraine in a televised address to the nation on Monday. Putin further stated Ukraine was part of Russia’s “own history, culture, spiritual space.”
Biden has a history of questionable foreign policy judgment and analysis. Robert Gates, George W. Bush and Barack Obama’s secretary of defense, wrote in 2014 that Biden “has been wrong on nearly every major foreign policy and national security issue over the past four decades.”
Biden’s foreign policy judgment before he became president are as follows:
- Suggested sending $200 million to Iran, “no strings attached.”
- Voted against the successful Persian Gulf War that forced Saddam Hussein out of Kuwait.
- Insisted “the Taliban per se is not our enemy.”
- Opposed the troop surges that brought some stability to both Iraq and Afghanistan
- Claimed he was responsible for ending the genocide in Bosnia
- Voted against trade agreements with Singapore, Chile, Oman, and the Dominican Republic
- Opposed the raid to kill Osama bin Laden, telling Obama “don’t go.”
- Opposed killing Iranian terrorist Qasem Soleimani
On Tuesday, former President Donald Trump asserted that Russia’s “taking over” of Ukraine is due to Biden’s weakness. “I know Vladimir Putin very well, and he would have never done during the Trump Administration what he is doing now, no way!”
Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) told CBS News Biden’s decisions as president could increase the price for a barrel of oil past $100 and perhaps to $115.
“I don’t believe the sanctions will stop them from doing what their plan is but I do think that if you don’t pay a price for doing this, he’s going to do more of it,” Rubio said. “I think Ukrainians are gonna fight back but this is gonna have an impact on Americans even though it seems to be really far away.”
Gas prices are already at their highest level since 2014.
Poll: Biden’s Approval Rating Underwater on Russia/Ukraine Conflict
President Joe Biden’s approval rating on the Russia/Ukraine conflict is underwater, a Wednesday Politico/MorningConsult poll revealed.
Just 40 percent of voters approved of Biden’s management of the conflict, while 45 disapproved, including 35 percent who said they strongly disapproved.
Overall, the poll handed Biden a negative approval rating (44 – 53 percent).
A majority (58 – 28 percent) of respondents also indicated they would find Biden responsible if the Russian/Ukrainian conflict increases American gas prices.
Biden told the nation on Tuesday Americans will bear a financial cost for the conflict. “Defending freedom will have costs, for us as well, and here at home,” he said upon announcing sanctions on Russia. “We need to be honest about that.”
Moscow’s ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov seemed to agree with Biden, suggesting that the sanctions will hurt American consumers more than Russians.
“There is no doubt that the sanctions imposed against us will hurt the global financial and energy markets,” Antonov said. “The United States will not be left out, where ordinary citizens will feel the full consequences of rising prices.”
“With regard to Moscow, new US sanctions will not solve anything, Russia has learned to work and develop under restrictions,” he added.
With gas prices expected to increase, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) told CBS News on Tuesday the price for a barrel could surpass $100 and perhaps reach $115. Gas prices are already at their highest level since 2014.
“I don’t believe the sanctions will stop them from doing what their plan is but I do think that if you don’t pay a price for doing this, he’s going to do more of it,” Rubio said. “I think Ukrainians are gonna fight back but this is gonna have an impact on Americans even though it seems to be really far away.”
The national average price of gas per gallon is $3.535, up nearly a dollar from last year’s price of $2.645.
W.H. Deputy NSA on Ukraine’s Call for More Sanctions: ‘There’s Almost a Bloodlust’ for Sanctions, But I’m Not Saying Ukraine Has It
On Wednesday’s broadcast of CNN’s “New Day,” Deputy National Security Adviser Daleep Singh responded to Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba’s call for harsher sanctions against Russia by stating that he wonders “if there’s almost a bloodlust out there for sanctions as an end in themselves.” But denied he was saying Kuleba has this bloodlust and said the sanctions announced on Tuesday were “a demonstration effect, and that demonstration effect will go higher and higher.”
Co-host John Berman read from Kuleba’s tweet and then asked, “How do you explain to the Ukrainian Foreign Minister why you are not hitting harder now?”
Singh responded, “Well, John, sometimes I wonder if there’s almost a bloodlust out there for sanctions as an end in themselves. But let me just be really clear, we did hit hard yesterday, and it was only a demonstration effect. … But the point the Ukrainians are making is right. These costs are going to escalate from here.”
Berman then asked who Singh thinks has a bloodlust for sanctions. Singh answered, “I hear it from many in the media, why didn’t you impose all of your sanctions on day one? And so, what I’m saying to you is, we saw the beginning of an invasion yesterday –.”
Berman then cut in to point out he was quoting Ukraine’s Foreign Minister, and ask, “So, does the Ukrainian Foreign Minister have a bloodlust for sanctions?”
Singh answered, “No. No. I’m not saying that. I’m saying I hear from questions out there and commentary, people wondering why didn’t we implement the full package of sanctions yesterday. And what I’m saying to you is, yesterday was a demonstration effect, and that demonstration effect will go higher and higher.”
Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett
U.S. Trade Deficit With Russia Up 93.9% in 2021
(CNSNews.com) - The United States merchandise trade deficit with Russia increased by 93.9 in 2021, according to data published this month by the Census Bureau.
In 2020, when President Donald Trump was in office, the United States imported $16,901,100,000 in goods from Russia and exported $4,886,900,000 to Russia, resulting in a bilateral trade deficit of $12,014,2000,000.
In 2021, when Joe Biden took office, the United States imported $29,695,100,000 in goods from Russia and exported $6,388,300,000 to Russia, resulting in a trade deficit of $23,306,800,000.
That was a one-year increase of $11,292,600,000—or 93.9%.
The Census Bureau has reported the U.S.-Russia merchandise trade balance going back to 1992, which was the first year after the demise of the Soviet Union. In 1992 and 1993, the United States ran relatively small trade surpluses with Russia ($1,631,100,000 and $1,226,900,000).
Then, in 1994, the United States ran a merchandise trade deficit of $66,900,000 with Russia. In every year since then, the United States has continued to run a trade deficit with Russia. 2021 was the 28th straight year that the United States has run a trade deficit with Russia.
The largest U.S. trade deficit with Russia came in 2011, when it hit $26,300,600,000. The second largest was last year’s $23,306,800,000.
The Top Ten imports the United States bought from Russia in 2021, according to the Census Bureau, were fuel oil ($10,265,587,048); crude oil ($4,714,801,618); other precious metals ($2,594,065,110); petroleum products, other ($2,528,835,6662); steelmaking materials ($1,638,966,123); fish and shellfish ($1,202,782,496); chemicals and fertilizers ($1,178,648,667); iron and steel mill products ($1,040,637,351); nuclear fuel materials ($688,757,733); and bauxite and aluminum ($528,663,788).
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