wattWhen Russia invaded Ukraine nearly three years ago, President Joe Biden set three goals for the U.S. response. Victory for Ukraine was never among them. The phrase the White House used to describe its mission at the time — to support Ukraine “as long as needed” — was deliberately vague. This also raises the question: What needs to be done?
“We intentionally didn’t talk about territorial parameters,” said Eric Greene, who served on Biden’s National Security Council at the time and oversaw Russia policy. In other words, the United States has not committed to helping Ukraine recover all the land occupied by Russia, and it certainly has not committed to helping Ukraine recover the large tracts of territory in eastern Ukraine and the Crimean peninsula that it captured during the first invasion in 2014. The reason, Green said, is simple. : In the White House’s view, doing so is beyond Ukraine’s ability, even with significant Western help. "This is not ultimately going to be a success story. The more important goal is for Ukraine to survive as a sovereign, democratic state, free to pursue integration with the West."
It's one of three goals Biden has set. He also wants the United States and its allies to remain united and insists on avoiding a direct conflict between Russia and NATO. Looking back on his leadership during the war in Ukraine — which is sure to shape his legacy as a statesman — Biden has accomplished all three goals. But the success achieved under these limited conditions did not satisfy even some of his closest allies and advisers. "Unfortunately, that kind of success makes you feel less good," Green told Time magazine. "Because Ukraine has suffered so much and there's a lot of uncertainty about where it's going to end up."
For Ukrainians, frustration with Biden has been growing throughout the invasion, and they have expressed it more openly since the U.S. presidential election ended with Donald Trump's victory. In a podcast that aired in early January, President Volodymyr Zelensky said the United States under Biden was not doing enough to impose sanctions on Russia and provide arms and security to Ukraine. "With all due respect, I don't want a situation like Biden's. I'm asking for sanctions now, I'm asking for weapons now," Zelensky told Lex Friedman.
The sharpness of the criticism is unusual, and considering the outpouring of support the U.S. has provided to Ukraine during Biden’s term ($66 billion in military aid alone since the Russian invasion in February 2022, according to the U.S. State Department) Criticism is particularly striking. Combining all aid approved by Congress for Ukraine's economic, humanitarian and other needs, aid totaled about $183 billion as of last September, according to Ukraine Oversight, a U.S. government watchdog created in 2023. Dollar. All this assistance.
Yet Zelensky and some of his allies insist the United States is being too cautious in confronting Russia, especially in offering Ukraine a clear path to NATO membership. "It is very important that we in the EU and NATO share a common vision for Ukraine's security future," the Ukrainian president said during his most recent visit to the White House in September.
During that trip, Zelensky provided Biden with a detailed list of demands that he called a "victory plan" for Ukraine. In addition to calling for an invitation to join NATO, the plan urges the United States to strengthen Ukraine's position in the war through an influx of new weapons and allowing their use deep within Russian territory. Biden had announced at the time that he would not run for re-election, and Ukrainians hoped his lame duck status would allow him to make bolder decisions, in part to ensure his legacy on foreign affairs. “For us, his legacy is an argument,” a senior member of Zelenskyy’s delegation in Washington told Time. “How will history remember you?”
These calls received mixed responses. Biden refused to give in on Ukraine's membership of NATO. But he did sign some initiatives that the White House had long rejected as too dangerous. In November, the United States allowed Ukraine to use American missiles to launch attacks deep into Russia. In January, the Biden administration imposed tough sanctions on Russia's energy sector, including a "fleet of shadow tankers" that Russia uses to export oil.
While the decisions fell short of Zelensky's expectations, they helped Biden demonstrate in his final foreign policy speech of his term that the United States had achieved its goal of defending Ukraine. However, he remained careful not to promise that Ukraine would regain more territory or even survive until the end of the war. Speaking at the State Department on January 13, Biden said Russian President Vladimir Putin "has so far failed to conquer Ukraine." "Today, Ukraine remains a free, independent country with the potential to have a bright future."
The future that Zelensky and many of his compatriots have in mind is one in which Russia is defeated. But implicit in Biden's goal in uniting the world in the fight is that defending Ukraine from Russia is not the same as defeating Russia. Therefore, it would not be surprising if this goal is still far from being achieved by Zelensky.