The war is becoming more dangerous for the United States and Biden knows it

If you just followed the news reports about Ukraine, you might think that the war has been a long, tedious and somewhat tedious task.

You are very wrong.

Things are really turning up more dangerous everyday.

For starters, as this war lasts, there are more opportunities for miscalculations, and the raw material for that is fast and furious.

Take for example two leaking high-profile statement from U.S. officials last week about America’s involvement in the Russia-Ukraine war.

Una, New York Times revealed that “the United States provided intelligence to Russian units that allowed Ukrainians to attack and kill many of the Russian generals who were killed in action in the war in Ukraine, according to senior US officials.

Second, the Times, following an NBC News report and citing U.S. officials, reported that the United States had “provided intelligence to help Ukrainian forces locate and attack” the Moscowthe flagship of the Russian Black Sea Fleet.

This guidance assistance “contributed to the eventual sinking” of Moskva of two Ukrainian cruise missiles.

As a journalist, I love a well-leaked story, and the reporters who break down those stories do great research.

At the same time, from what I can collect from senior U.S. officials, who spoke to me on condition of anonymity, the leaks are not part of no strategy in mindand the president Joe Biden he was furious with them.

I was told that he called the director of national intelligence, the director of the CIA and the secretary of defense to clarify in the strongest and most colorful language that this kind of the verbiage is reckless and it must end immediately, before we get to a unintentional war including Russia.

The impressive takeaway from these leaks is that they suggest that we are no longer in a proxy war with Russia, but that we are approaching a direct warand no one prepared the Americans or Congress for that.

Vladimir Putin He certainly had no illusions about how much the US and NATO were arming Ukraine with material and intelligence, but when US officials started that brag by publicly playing a role in the assassination of Russian generals and the sinking of the Russian flagship, killing many sailors, we can create an opportunity for Putin to respond in ways that could be dangerous to escalate this conflict and pull the US down with it. than you want.

This is doubly dangerous, senior U.S. officials say, as Putin’s behavior becomes increasingly obvious to them. not very predictable as has happened in the past.

And Putin is running out of options for some sort of face-saving victory on the ground, or even a face-saving off-ramp.

It is difficult to overstate what this war has been disastrous for Putin so far.

In fact, Biden taught his team what Putin was trying to do restore NATO expansion, and finished laying the groundwork for NATO expansion.

Sobra Finland Yes Sweden now they are taking steps to join an alliance they have left behind for seven decades.

But that’s why U.S. officials are extremely worried about what Putin might do or announce at the Moscow Victory Day celebrations on Monday, which marked the anniversary of Nazi Germany’s defeat of the Union. Soviet.

This is the traditional day of military parade and celebration of the skill of the Russian army.

Putin could mobilize more soldiers, do other provocations or do nothing.

But no one knows.

Unfortunately, we need to be aware of the fact that it is not only the Russians who want to communicate with us more deeply.

No illusions: the president Volodymyr Zelensky from Ukraine is trying to do the same from the beginning:

make Ukraine an immediate member of NATO or have Washington conclude a bilateral security agreement in Kyiv.

I admire Zelensky’s heroism and leadership.

If I were him, I would try involving the US by my side as he was.

But I am a citizen of the United States and I want us to be careful.

Ukraine then and still is a spotted country Corruption.

That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t help him.

I’m glad we’re doing it.

I insist we do.

But my feeling is that the Biden team is walking beyond that Tight rope to Zelensky than seen, wants to do everything he can to make sure I win this war, but does it in a way that still maintains some distance between us. and the Ukrainian leadership.

That is so that kyiv does not make decisions and so that we are not ashamed of the chaotic Ukrainian politics after the war.

The view of Biden and his team, according to my reports, is that the United States needs to help Ukraine restore its sovereignty and push back the Russians, but not let Ukraine become a American protectorate on the border with Russia.

We need to stay laser-focused on what we have national interest and not drifting in ways that lead to exposures and dangers we don’t want.

One thing I do know about Biden, who accompanied me on a trip to Afghanistan in 2002 when he was a senator and head of the Foreign Relations Committee, is that world leaders don’t easily fall for him.

Too many of them he faced throughout his career.

He has a good sense of where American interests end and begin.

Ask the Afghans.

So where are we now?

Ang Putin’s Plan A —Take kyiv and install their own leader — failed.

And his Plan B, trying to fully control the former industrial center of Ukraine, known as donbaswho mainly speaks Russian, is still doubtful.

Putin’s newly reinforced ground forces have made some progress, but they are still limited.

It’s spring in the Donbas, which means the ground is still muddy and wet, so Russia’s weaponry still needs to stay on the roads and highways in many places, making it vulnerable.

As the United States travels to Ukraine and Russia and tries to avoid getting caught, a bright spot in the effort to prevent a wider war is the success of the detention administration. China provide military assistance to Russia.

It became overwhelming.

After all, it was only on February 4 that the president of China, Xi Jinping, received Putin at the opening of the 2022 Winter Olympics, where they announced all sorts of trade and energy deals and then issued a joint statement stating that the friendship between Russia and China “it has no limits “.

That was then.

After the war began, Biden personally explained to Xi in a lengthy phone call that China’s economic future depended on access to the American and European markets, the two largest trading partners, and whether China will provide military assistance to Putin, it will have negative consequences. . for China’s trade in both markets.

Xi did the math and it happened discouraged to help Russia in any military way, which also weakens Putin.

Western restrictions on shipments of microchips to Russia have begun to really hinder some of its factories, and until now China has not yet entered.

My bottom line reflects my main line, and I can’t stress it enough:

We need to stick as close as possible to ours original target, limited and clearly defined, to help Ukraine expel Russian forces as soon as possible or negotiate their departure when Ukrainian leaders felt the time was right.

But we are dealing with some incredibly unstable elements, especially a politically wounded Putin.

Bragging about killing their generals and sinking their ships, or loving Ukraine in a way that will involve us there forever, is the height of madness.

c.2022 The New York Times Company