JRL NEWSWATCH: “For the U.S., a Tenuous Balance in Confronting Russia” – New York Times

File Photo of White House with South Lawn and Fountain

“Navigating between aiding Ukraine and avoiding an escalation with Moscow has led to a tangle of decisions and sometimes tortured distinctions over weapons and other elements of policy.”

“… [T]he tenuous balance the Biden administration has tried to maintain as it seeks to help Ukraine lock Russia in a quagmire without inciting a broader conflict … or … cutting off potential paths to de-escalation. … has led to a tangle of decisions, … sometimes tortured distinctions … even as the situation … evolves, pictures of dead civilians circulate around the globe and … Zelensky … pleads with Congress and … Biden to do more …. The balancing act informs every aspect of American policy …, including the scope of … sanctions …, the granularity of … [shared] battlefield intelligence …, the killing power of … weapons systems … and whether … to label … Putin … a war criminal. …”

Among other things, even as the CIA reportedly endeavors to verify that weapons shipments reach appropriate Ukrainian military units, the Biden team reportedly is impeding an expansion of the U.S. covert effort, such as denying the CIA a role in ferrying arms.

Meanwhile, amidst efforts purporting to balance an eclectic mix of American involvement, U.S. officials reportedly have raised the prospect of pushing NATO-ally Turkey to provide Ukraine with sophisticated Russian S-400 antiaircraft systems.  A few years ago, the United States opposed Turkey’s purchase of the system from Russia.  Yet now U.S. officials reportedly envision a transfer of the system from Turkey to Ukraine as a way to strengthen Ukrainian air defenses while coaxing Turkey to distance itself more from Russia.

Click here for: “For the U.S., a Tenuous Balance in Confronting Russia; Navigating between aiding Ukraine and avoiding an escalation with Moscow has led to a tangle of decisions and sometimes tortured distinctions over weapons and other elements of policy.” – New York Times/ Mark Mazzetti, Helene Cooper, Julian E. Barnes, David E. Sanger

 

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