Moscow is playing the “we are shocked and offended” card in response to U.S. President Joseph R. Biden calling out Russian dictator Vladimir Putin as a killer.
Actually I would have thought that Putin would have worn that badge with a sense of pride – what’s the Russian equivalent of 007?
But recalling the ambassador is I think meant to be a signal to the Biden administration to also take a time out and think they what it really intends to do on the sanctions front. I think they also hope it freaks the Europeans out and they call Biden in a panic asking him to pull back from the brink.
I don’t think Biden will pull the punches at this stage. Ambassador Dan Fried called them out on it in terms of the last time Moscow recalled its ambassador in the early 1980s. It did not work then.
It’s hard now for Biden to row back from calling Putin a killer, saying he will find out soon the heavy cost he will pay and then doing nothing. It reminds me a bit of Obama’s red lines in Syria. I think if Putin is going to take Biden seriously, or just view him as a light version of Barack Obama, he will have to hit the ground running with Putin by announcing a tough sanctions package.
For Biden, it’s a letting Putin “know who’s boss” moment. It will set the scene/stage for what comes next. Putin respects power and strength. Let’s see if Biden really understands Putin as he says he does.
