NRPLUS MEMBER ARTICLE
T
he hasty Afghanistan withdrawal, and President Biden’s trashing and abandonment of Afghan allies, shook Washington’s partners in general, and waiving sanctions on Gazprom’s Nord Stream 2 this spring infuriated Eastern European allies.
Thankfully, for Ukraine, its struggles are seen as more central to the ever-Atlanticist Biden administration, and, thankfully again, buttressing the country’s defenses against Russian meddling is certainly less costly from a U.S. perspective than direct involvement in Afghanistan. No nation-building necessary.
In this light, Biden’s meeting with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky last week went as well as it could have gone. The president needed to reassure Ukraine that Washington would …