During the Biden Administration, a debate ensued over which kinds of military assistance to Ukraine would count as an escalation against Russia. The Biden Administration wanted to avoid a war with Russia but also provide military assistance to Ukraine; gradually, the pendulum swung in favor of arming Ukraine after it became clear that Russia did not escalate when a new type of weapons system was delivered. The last volley in this debate was after Donald Trump won the election, and Biden removed restrictions on Ukraine using Western weapons for long-range strikes inside Russia. According to the Wall Street Journal, the Trump Administration reversed the Biden Administration, despite Trump’s social media criticism of Biden on the issue.
It was clear then, as it is now, that the debate over escalation was really among ourselves: Russia has escalated the war as the West has showed weakness. Trump has avoided punishing Russia in his attempt to woo Russian leader Vladimir Putin to bring his aggressive invasion of Ukraine to an end. However, Trump’s summit in Alaska with Putin last month, along with his ever-ignored arbitrary deadlines of “two weeks” and “50 days” seem to have only emboldened the Russian autocrat.
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