The White House defended President Joe Biden’s decision not to deploy U.S. forces into Ukraine, despite acknowledging Russian President Vladimir Putin’s “larger ambitions” of restoring the former Soviet Union.
Biden has been “clear” regarding U.S. support of NATO defense operations, according to White House press secretary Jen Psaki. But Biden’s responsibilities as president mean taking the best steps for the country, she said.
BIDEN’S FOREIGN POLICY WOES POISED TO DEFINE PRESIDENCY
“The role of the president of the United States, any president, is to make an assessment about what is in the interest of the United States, our national security interests, the American people, and certainly weigh very heavily how we’re leading the global community,” she told reporters Friday. “It is not in our interest to be in a war with Russia. So no, we are not sending U.S. troops to Ukraine.”
Psaki cited this week’s additional deployment of 7,000 military personnel to Europe as evidence of the U.S. keeping its Article 5 obligations.
“The president believes he has a responsibility to be very direct with the American people about what his intentions are and what his intentions are not,” she said.
Biden spoke with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky again Friday and commended him for “his brave leadership, his brave actions,” according to Psaki.
“He also conveyed our ongoing economic, humanitarian, and security support that we will continue to provide. So that is hardly standing on the sidelines,” she said.
Biden became defensive this week when reporters asked him whether he had underestimated Putin after the Russian strongman launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine rather than simply claiming the separatist-controlled regions of Donetsk and Luhansk.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
“I didn’t underestimate him,” Biden said Thursday after announcing his second tranche of sanctions. “He has much larger ambitions than Ukraine. He wants to, in fact, reestablish the former Soviet Union. That’s what this is about.”
