GET THIS STRAIT, BIDEN!
Putin blocks sea lane as Joe backs off
Russian President Vladimir Putin took advantage of the Biden administration’s decision to abandon plans to send two destroyers to the Black Sea by closing off the Kerch Strait, connecting Crimea to Russia, to foreign warships until next fall.
The action comes as Russia warned the United States on Tuesday to stay away from the area “for their own good” after the Biden administration said it was going to send the USS Roosevelt and the USS Donald Cook to the Black Sea in response to Moscow’s increasing military presence near Ukraine.
Putin will close the Kerch Strait beginning next week until October, blocking foreign warships that are conducting military exercises, including the US, Ukraine’s foreign ministry said Thursday.
The US and its allies slapped sanctions on Putin for illegally annexing Crimea in 2014.
The Biden administration pulled back the two destroyers from steaming into the Black Sea after fighting intensified between Ukrainian and Russian-backed separatist forces in an effort to de-escalate the situation, Politico reported.
“We have no desire to be in an escalating war with Russia,” a senior administration official told reporters, adding that the White House doesn’t want things “spinning out of control.”
“We do not seek a downward spiral. We can and think we can avoid that,” the official said.
Putin’s action happened just hours after the Biden administration declared a national emergency on Thursday, slapping sanctions on more than three dozen people in Russia and expelling 10 diplomats.
Biden signed the order, which detailed Russia’s actions in the Solar Winds cyber-intrusion and its interference in the election, accusing the Kremlin of working to “undermine the conduct of free and fair democratic elections and democratic institutions in the United States and its allies and partners,” according to a statement from the White House.
Russia also engaged in “malicious cyber-enabled activities against the United States and its allies and partners,” the statement said.
The combined actions “constitute an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security, foreign policy and economy
of the United States.”
In a call Tuesday to Putin, Biden had foreshadowed the sanctions, warning the Russian leader that “the United States will act firmly in defense of its national interests in response to Russia’s actions, such as cyber-intrusions and election interference,” the White House said.
The US intelligence community concluded that Putin directed Russian efforts to influence the election, but found no evidence that Russia or anyone else changed or manipulated votes.
The FBI earlier this year pointed at Russia as being behind the cyber attack in which hackers piggybacked on the SolarWinds software to install malicious software when companies and agencies updated their servers. The breach exposed personal data at scores of federal agencies, including the Treasury Department and the Justice Department, as well as hundreds of private companies.
Among the measures announced Thursday are Treasury Department sanctions against six Russian companies linked to the hacking and 32 individuals involved in the election interference.
In partnership with the European Union, the United Kingdom, Australia and Canada, the US sanctioned eight individuals associated with Russia’s continuing military occupation of Crimea.
Russia condemned the sanctions as “illegal” and vowed to respond.
“We condemn any pursuit of sanctions, we consider them illegal. In any case, the principle of reciprocity in this matter is valid; reciprocity in a way that best serves our interests,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, according to the Russian news agency TASS.
Peskov also said the penalties will jeopardize negotiations over a summit between Biden and Putin.
“It goes without saying that possible sanctions being discussed would by no means promote such a meeting,” he said.
Since Putin’s 2014 annexation of Crimea, Russian forces have been backing pro-separatist militants, resulting in thousands of casualties among Ukrainian and Russian troops.
The US sanctions come as tensions between Washington and Moscow are on edge. A video captioned “ready to fight” that surfaced recently shows Russian soldiers moving armored vehicles and tanks into position near the Ukraine border.
One scene labeled “military training” shows a large piece of crane-like machinery behind a corrugated metal fence.
“It’s still too early to talk about this meeting in tangible terms. It’s a new proposal and it will be studied,” Peskov said, adding that more talks would occur on the diplomatic level.
Biden, in formally announcing the sanctions later Thursday, said that he intends to meet with Putin at a summit over the summer in Europe.
“I proposed that we meet in person this summer in Europe for a summit to address a range of issues facing both of our countries. Our teams are discussing that possibility right now,” Biden said in response to a reporter’s question.
“And out of that summit — were it to occur and I believe it will — the United States and Russia could launch a strategic stability dialogue to pursue cooperation in arms control and security. We can address critical global challenges that require Russia and the United States to work together, including reining in nuclear threats from Iran and North Korea, ending this pandemic globally and meeting the existential crisis of climate change.”