Democrat President Joe Biden’s team had to do damage control on Friday after the president appeared to tell a group of U.S. soldiers in Europe that they would be getting sent to Ukraine.
ABC News reported that Biden “raised eyebrows when he appeared to tell the group that American troops will be going into Ukraine, though he has repeatedly said that he will not send troops there.”
“You know, with the Ukrainian people, Ukrainian people have a lot of backbone, they have a lot of guts and I’m sure you’re observing it,” Biden said. “And you’re gonna see when you’re there, and some of you have been there. You’re gonna see, you’re gonna see women, young people standing, standing in the middle, in front of a damn tank, just saying I’m not leaving. I’m holding my ground. They’re incredible. But they take a lot of inspiration from us.”
Why is Biden telling US troops what they’re going to see when they’re in Ukraine? When are they going to Ukraine? pic.twitter.com/dV9u2FISMY
— Arthur Schwartz (@ArthurSchwartz) March 25, 2022
The Biden administration had to quickly clean up after the president by issuing a statement claiming that his position on deploying U.S. soldiers had not changed.
“The president has been clear we are not sending U.S. troops to Ukraine and there is no change in that position,” the administration said.
Biden warned on Monday that Russian President Vladimir Putin is likely to launch cyberattacks against the United States as his war in Ukraine has turned into a political disaster back in Russia, and as Ukrainian forces have ground Putin’s military invasion to a bloody stalemate.
“The more Putin’s back is against the wall, the greater the severity of the tactics he may employ … one of the tools he’s most likely to use in my view, in our view, is cyberattacks,” Biden said on Monday. “The magnitude of Russia’s cyber capacity is fairly consequential and it’s coming.”
Biden snapped a reporter on Thursday after the reporter noted to him that his sanctions had failed to stop Putin from invading Russia.
“Sir, deterrence didn’t work,” the reporter said. “What makes you think Vladimir Putin will alter course based on the action you’ve taken today?”
“Let’s get something straight. Do you remember, if you covered me from the very beginning, I did not say that, in fact, the sanctions would deter him,” Biden claimed. “Sanctions never deter. You keep talking about that. Sanctions never deter. The maintenance of sanctions, the maintenance of sanctions, the increasing the pain, and the demonstration why I asked for this NATO meeting today is to be sure that after a month, we will sustain what we’re doing, not just next month, the following month, but for the remainder of this entire year. That’s what will stop him.”
“You believe the actions today will have an impact on making Russia change course in Ukraine?” the reporter pressed.
“That’s not what I said. You’re playing a game with me,” Biden claimed. “I know. The answer is no. I think what happens is we have to demonstrate — the purpose, the single most important thing is for us to stay unified, and the world continue to focus on what a brute this guy is. And all the innocent people’s lives that are being lost and ruined, and what’s going on. That’s the important thing. But look, if you’re Putin, and you think that the Europe is going to crack in a month, or six weeks, or two months. Why not, they can take anything for another month. But we have to demonstrate. The reason I asked for the meeting, we have to stay fully, totally, thoroughly united.”
This report has been updated to include additional information.