NATO and Ukraine – Full of confusion after “talk”

President Joe Biden’s press conference on Wednesday was intended to clarify the US and NATO line on the Ukraine-Russia issue – but instead created so much confusion and resentment that Vice President Kamala Harris and press secretary Jen Psaki – and eventually Biden himself – had to go out and put out the fire. .

During the press conference, the president stated bluntly that there is disagreement within NATO about what the defense alliance will do if Russian forces enter Ukraine.

“There are differences within NATO when it comes to what countries are willing to do, depending on what happens,” Biden said during the two-hour session, according to The Guardian.

This is interpreted according to Politico such as that Biden said outright that the United States and the European NATO countries disagree on how to deal with any Russian aggression against NATO-friendly Ukraine.

Confronted on TV

The next day, Harris was confronted with the fact that the president had been “not entirely clear” in an interview with the TV channel NBC.

Host Savannah Guthrie pointed out that just half an hour after the press conference, Press Secretary Jen Psaki found it necessary to assure that a border violation by Russia “will be met with a swift, serious and united response from the United States and our allies.”

– The President of the United States has been crystal clear, and we as the United States are crystal clear: If Putin takes any aggressive action, we are prepared to incur serious costs. Dot, Harris said in an interview Thursday morning.

The press conference on Wednesday was Biden’s second on its own ever. Several also reacted to the president’s distinction between a Russian smaller and larger operation, and NATO’s subsequent response, according to Politico.

The big fear: – Can give Putin a pretext

– You will see that Russia will be held accountable if they invade, and it depends on what they do. One thing is if it is a small push, and then we end up having to argue about what we should do and not, and so on, the president said.

– So wrong

Biden himself specified the next day to journalists that he sees any Russian military advance across the border into Ukraine as an invasion. When asked what qualifies as a “small push”, Biden highlighted digital attacks and the presence of Russian intelligence agents.

Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen, who led a delegation to Ukraine last week, said the president was just “wrong.”

Firefighting seems to be having an effect. According to Politico, many Republicans are outraged by the president’s remarks, but Senator Rob Portman has stated MSNBC that the clean-up was “quite effective”.

Annoyed Zelensky

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was obviously unhappy with Biden’s words.