Ukraine Crisis: West’s Priorities & Capabilities Need Clarity

Joe Biden, like Donald Trump, has a tendency to occasionally voice uncomfortable — and unpopular — truths in a ham-handed and clumsy way. “I think what you’re going to see is that Russia will be held accountable if it invades [Ukraine],” he said in his rambling January 19 press conference, which went on for just shy of two hours. “And it depends on what it does. It’s one thing if it’s a minor incursion and then we end up having a fight about what to do and not do, et cetera.”

The comments sparked widespread outrage, particularly from the more hawkish corners of the American political scene. (Ukraine’s president weighed in, too: “There are no minor incursions and small nations,” he tweeted. “Just as there are no minor casualties and little grief from the loss of loved ones.”) But in one important sense, the president was right: America and its NATO allies can’t seem to agree about what to do in Ukraine.

About the Author

Nate Hochman

Nate Hochman was a staff writer at National Review.

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Joe Biden, like Donald Trump, has a tendency to occasionally voice uncomfortable — and unpopular — truths in a ham-handed and clumsy way. “I think what you’re going to see is that Russia will be held accountable if it invades [Ukraine],” he said in his rambling January 19 press conference, which went on for just shy of two hours. “And it depends on what it does. It’s one thing if it’s a minor incursion and then we end up having a fight about what to do and not do, et cetera.”

The comments sparked widespread outrage, particularly from the more hawkish corners of the American political scene. (Ukraine’s president weighed in, too: “There are no minor incursions and small nations,” he tweeted. “Just as there are no minor casualties and little grief from the loss of loved ones.”) But in one important sense, the president was right: America and its NATO allies can’t seem to agree about what to do in Ukraine.