My Ukraine thread tonight is a little different, because I want to ask some pointed questions about the slow US response and actions that are so far much weaker than the Biden White House's bold promises. Several elements don't add up & the truth is required. 1/8
RU foreign minister Lavrov says Russia is still at the table with the US to revive Obama's Iran deal. Regardless of your opinion of the deal, Russia shouldn't be anywhere near a table with the US or anyone else. Isolation means isolation. wsj.com/articles/iran-… 2/8
Maintaining contacts like this tells Putin that there is a way out, that he has leverage & authority. Of course Russia wants to connect the Iran deal to lifting sanctions levied for Putin's invasion of Ukraine. This shows they are working and that more are needed. 3/8
Was this discussed during Biden's summit & calls with Putin last year? Is the White House's desire for Russian help with the Iran deal why the US did not act to arm Ukraine more before the invasion, even though US intel accurately predicted it, to not anger Putin? 4/8
Even if the WH denies a quid pro quo, to use a familiar term, the perception is unbearable. Russia is not a good faith partner, let alone reigning in its fellow terror sponsor Iran. Either everything is on the table with him or nothing is. It must be nothing. 5/8
Another Obama alumni, one with long connections to Lavrov, John Kerry, made absurd remarks a week ago hoping Putin would still have time for carbon emissions while he was invading Ukraine. Not that Putin has ever cared about the environment anyway. 6/8
There always seems to be a gap between the White House's promises & actions. The UK's lagging Ukraine response seems obvious: decades of corruption, awash in Russian cash. The US may want something other than money from Russia, but it won't come free of charge. 7/8
We deserve answers and transparency in a democracy. Putin should not be anywhere near a position to extort concessions from the US on Ukraine for anything at all—not an Iran deal, not a green deal. He has to be cut off, and his mafia has to know it. 8/8
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