U.S. Presents Geopolitical ‘Us vs. Them’ Worldview about Biden-Putin Meeting

Dec. 7, 2021 (EIRNS)—What came across in the briefing given by National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan on today’s virtual meeting between President Joe Biden and Vladimir Putin, is that it’s “us versus them”—our bloc versus their bloc. Sullivan repeated ad nauseam “our European allies” being one with the U.S., reporting that following the meeting, Biden again briefed the U.K.’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson, France’s President Emmanuel Macron, Germany’s outgoing Chancellor Angela Merkel and Italy’s Prime Minister Mario Draghi. “Our team” was briefing all embassies of NATO member countries, and Biden is planning to meet with leaders of both houses of Congress to see “how we can work together on a bipartisan basis to defend American values and interests.” Biden is also planning to speak with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Dec. 9, and follow up “with our European colleagues to ensure that our engagement with Russia involves and is closely coordinated with our European allies, so we are all on the same page.” Can’t have any stragglers. And, Sullivan warned, “as we pursue diplomatic channels, we are prepared for all contingencies, including specific responses to Russian escalation,” should they be required.

In response to one question about what it meant to talk about bolstering the “Eastern flank,” Sullivan emphasized that “our Baltic allies” would be worried, should there be a Russian invasion of Ukraine, so the U.S. will be prepared to respond quickly to provide them with additional “capabilities.” No, he said, it won’t be boots on the ground, because U.S. military personnel are already there on a rotational basis. Asked about what kind of economic sanctions would be applied that would be different from those applied in 2014 following the Maidan coup, since, as one reporter put it, these didn’t deter Russia from seizing Crimea, Sullivan replied that “we’re going to do now what we didn’t do in 2014,” and reported there is tight coordination between Treasury, the State Department, and the National Security Council to coordinate the “specifics,” although he wouldn’t say more. He couldn’t say enough times that the U.S. will always be “flanked by our allies” in dealing with Russia.