11 Apr, 2021
US President Joe Biden’s Secretary of State has been forced to defend the response of the previous Democrat government to the 2014 crisis in Ukraine, suggesting that Barack Obama prevented Russia from “doing even more” back then.
Antony Blinken was confronted on Sunday by NBC host Chuck Todd, who suggested the US response to the 2014 crisis was underwhelming and that Biden may face a similar situation with China and Taiwan today.
Blinken, who served as Deputy National Security Advisor in the Obama administration in 2014, defended the policy, saying his former boss “led a very significant international effort to impose real cost and sanctions on Russia.”
“How did it work out, in fairness?” Todd responded, to which Blinken said: “What we don’t know is has this deterred Russia from doing even more.”
He went on to reiterate US concerns over the current tensions over Donbass and how Biden is ready to inflict “costs and consequences,” should Russia “act recklessly and aggressively”. He disagreed with the host when he pointed out that Biden’s Russia policy looked exactly like Obama’s (and Trump’s), which didn’t appear to make Russia act the way Washington wants it to.
Antony Blinken was confronted on Sunday by NBC host Chuck Todd, who suggested the US response to the 2014 crisis was underwhelming and that Biden may face a similar situation with China and Taiwan today.
Blinken, who served as Deputy National Security Advisor in the Obama administration in 2014, defended the policy, saying his former boss “led a very significant international effort to impose real cost and sanctions on Russia.”
“How did it work out, in fairness?” Todd responded, to which Blinken said: “What we don’t know is has this deterred Russia from doing even more.”
He went on to reiterate US concerns over the current tensions over Donbass and how Biden is ready to inflict “costs and consequences,” should Russia “act recklessly and aggressively”. He disagreed with the host when he pointed out that Biden’s Russia policy looked exactly like Obama’s (and Trump’s), which didn’t appear to make Russia act the way Washington wants it to.
“We can’t go back four years ago or six years ago or eight years ago – pick your year,” he said, reiterating the threat of making Russia pay for perceived incidents.
The 2014 crisis in Ukraine started with US-backed violent anti-government protests in Ukraine, in which right-wing nationalists played the role of foot soldiers against security forces. An outspokenly anti-Russian government was brought into power on the back of the uprising, which stirred discontent in the Russia-friendly eastern regions of Ukraine.
After the Ukrainian army failed to capture Donbass, a peace roadmap, which would allow the breakaway regions to reintegrate under special terms guaranteeing their autonomy and representation, was agreed after international talks in Minsk, Belarus. Kiev sabotaged the Minsk agreements for years and has recently pulled out of peace talks altogether.
Meanwhile the President Volodymyr Zelensky, once a widely popular politician whose party in 2019 managed to secure a unilateral majority in the Ukrainian parliament, has lost much of his public support. He suffered a major defeat in last year’s regional elections and has recently launched several attacks on the more popular opposition forces. He ordered the shutdown of TV channels critical of his government and a crackdown on the main opposition political party, the leader of which has been bombarding Zelensky personally with acerbic criticisms.
“We can’t go back four years ago or six years ago or eight years ago – pick your year,” he said, reiterating the threat of making Russia pay for perceived incidents.
The 2014 crisis in Ukraine started with US-backed violent anti-government protests in Ukraine, in which right-wing nationalists played the role of foot soldiers against security forces. An outspokenly anti-Russian government was brought into power on the back of the uprising, which stirred discontent in the Russia-friendly eastern regions of Ukraine.
Published at www.rt.com
