Donald Trump took a swipe at President Biden’s handling of Vladimir Putin amid the Russian president’s buildup of troops at the Ukraine border, saying Putin “is not worried” by his predecessor after the chaotic US withdrawal from Afghanistan.
“Vladimir Putin looks at our pathetic surrender in Afghanistan, leaving behind dead Soldiers, American citizens, and $85 billion worth of Military equipment. He then looks at Biden. He is not worried!” Trump said in a statement through his Save America PAC just hours after Biden finished his video call with the Russian president.
Top Republicans have repeatedly ridiculed the Biden administration for their handling of the Afghanistan evacuation.
On Tuesday, reports emerged that the White House is preparing to consider evacuating Americans from Ukraine should Russia launch an invasion, and are looking to avoid another chaotic situation.
There are no active plans to evacuate Americans from the European country, according to the CNN report citing half a dozen sources, officials are just looking to avoid being caught “flat-footed.”
While Biden and Putin discussed a variety of topics during the secure call, the main topic was focused on Ukraine as Russia has been increasing their military presence along the Ukrainian border for months.
As recently as Monday, new satellite imagery showed forces continuing to gather at several key strategic points in western Russia and Crimea.
Biden and Putin met virtually for approximately two hours, starting around 10 a.m. Eastern Time. The video summit opened with waves of hello and some technical difficulties from Biden.
After the call ended, the White House said Biden “voiced the deep concerns of the United States and our European Allies about Russia’s escalation of forces surrounding Ukraine and made clear that the US and our allies would respond with strong economic and other measures in the event of military escalation.”
Biden “called for de-escalation and a return to diplomacy,” the statement said.
“The two presidents tasked their teams to follow up, and the US will do so in close coordination with allies and partners. The presidents also discussed the US-Russia dialogue on Strategic Stability, a separate dialogue on ransomware, as well as joint work on regional issues such as Iran,” the White House said.
During Tuesday’s daily press briefing, National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan confirmed the US’s intention to issue economic sanctions, defensive materials to Ukraine and possibly fortify eastern NATO allies with additional troops if Russia decides to go through with the invasion.
When pressed on a timeline for when Putin might de-escalate and avoid the sanctions, White House press secretary declined to give an estimate, telling reporters “that’s really up to President Putin.”
“Our objective is to prevent Russia and President Putin from invading Ukraine. So of course we want them to de-escalate, but that was the clear bottom line of the message.”
The Kremlin has repeatedly denied any intention to invade Ukraine.
