Former US President Joe Biden has accused Donald Trump of “modern-day appeasement” in his approach to Russia and expressed fears that Europe would “lose confidence in the certainty of America” in his first interview since leaving the White House in January..
Biden was challenged on whether he gave enough support to Kyiv to ensure they could win the war as opposed to just resisting Russia’s full-scale invasion. During three years of fighting, his White House shifted its position on the use of US-supplied weapons and lifted some restrictions over time.
“We gave them everything they needed to provide for their independence, and we were prepared to respond more aggressively if Putin moved again,” he said.
Biden was also asked about comments from the Trump administration suggesting Kyiv must give up some territory in order to secure a peace deal that would put an end to fighting.
He said Russian President Vladimir Putin believed Ukraine was part of Russia and “anybody that thinks he’s going to stop” if some territory is conceded as part of a peace deal is just foolish.
Biden said: “I just don’t understand how people think that if we allow a dictator, a thug, to decide he’s going to take significant portions of land that aren’t his, that that’s going to satisfy him. I don’t quite understand.”
He also said he feared some countries in the Nato alliance that border Russia may “just say we’ve got to make an accommodation” to Putin if Ukraine ultimately gives up land.
Biden said he was concerned about US-Europe relations breaking down under President Donald Trump, which he said “would change the modern history of the world”.
Biden said, “I don’t think it would have mattered. We left at a time when we had a good candidate.”
“Things moved so quickly that it made it difficult to walk away. And it was a hard decision,” he said. “I think it was the right decision. I think that… it was just a difficult decision.”
Asked about the current administration’s treatment of US allies, the former president condemned Trump’s calls for the US to take back the Panama Canal, to acquire Greenland and to make Canada the 51st state.
“What the hell’s going on here? What president ever talks like that? That’s not who we are,” he said. “We’re about freedom, democracy, opportunity, not about confiscation.”
