White House Propaganda Secretary Jen Psaki struggled Tuesday to explain how sanctions against Russia are a “deterrent” after the threat of sanctions failed to deter Russian President Vladimir Putin from “invading” two separatist areas in eastern Ukraine.
You may recall that when decrepit, incompetent Joe Biden took over the Oval Office in 2021, he dropped the sanctions that former President Donald Trump had placed on the Nord Stream 2 pipeline to bar Russia from using its natural gas resources to gain geopolitical leverage over Europe.
Now Putin has recognized the independence of the two separatist areas and sent troops there, and Biden announced NATO sanctions and the suspension of Nord Stream 2 in response.
Asked how sanctions could be a deterrent after they had already failed to deter, Psaki struggled to answer. She also couldn’t explain why the U.S. had not sanctioned Putin himself.
You may also recall that in 2014, when Putin invaded and annexed Crimea, Psaki joined a global campaign to use Twitter hashtags to pressure Russia. Needless to say, Putin was not intimidated by such social media virtue-signaling.
Nor is he intimidated by the Biden administration itself. As Sen. Lindsey Graham said on Fox News Tuesday, when Putin looks at Biden, “he sees Neville Chamberlain.”