Biden says Putin didn’t expect ‘cohesion’ among Western allies President Joe Biden during the COP26 U.N. Climate Change Conference, Nov. 1, 2021, at the Scottish Event Campus in Glasgow, Scotland. (Official White House Photo by Adam Schultz)
This article was originally published by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and is reprinted with permission.
U.S. President Joe Biden says President Vladimir Putin miscalculated Western resolve before launching Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine and didn’t think Western countries would remain unified in their use of sanctions and support for arming Ukrainian forces.
Biden told reporters at a news conference in Brussels that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine had built greater unity within NATO, the European Union, and the Group of Seven economies.
“NATO has never, never been more united than it is today. Putin is getting exactly the opposite of what he intended to have as a consequence of going into Ukraine,” Biden said after a meeting with NATO leaders.
Putin “didn’t think we could sustain this cohesion,” Biden said.
NATO countries and other allies have imposed harsh sanctions against Russia, crippling the ruble and the Russian economy. So far, however, the European Union has not gone as far as the United States and banned oil and natural gas from Russia.
Biden also said NATO would respond if Russia used chemical weapons in Ukraine and that he thought Russia should be removed from the Group of 20 major economies.
Biden said the nature of NATO’s response to any use of chemical weapons “would depend on the nature of the use.”
Biden said the topic of Russia’s membership in the G20 was raised during his meetings with world leaders in Brussels.
“My answer is yes, depends on the G20,” Biden said, when asked if Russia should be removed from the group.
Biden also said that if countries such as Indonesia and others do not agree with removing Russia from the G20, then in his view, Ukraine should be allowed to attend the meetings.
