Biden lambasts Trump's Ukraine approach in fiery BBC interview
In an interview with the BBC, Joe Biden sharply criticised Donald Trump's policy towards Ukraine, calling it a "modern-day appeasement." This is the former U.S. president's first such interview since he left the White House.
What do you need to know?
- Joe Biden sharply criticised Donald Trump's policy towards Ukraine in an interview with the BBC, describing it as a "modern-day appeasement."
- According to Biden, Trump is placating Putin by exerting pressure on Ukraine.
- Biden expressed concern that "Europe is going to lose confidence in the certainty of America and the leadership of America".
Donald Trump seizes nearly every possible opportunity to attack the previous U.S. administration and Joe Biden, claiming that the war would not have occurred if he had been the president of the United States earlier.
Thus far, Biden had not publicly commented on Trump's narrative. It took a few months after leaving the White House for him to give his first interview to the BBC, where he spoke in an exceptionally critical tone about his successor's policy, particularly towards war-torn Ukraine.
Biden strikes Trump. "He is just foolish"
Biden, referring to Trump, emphasized that anyone who believes Putin would stop if territories were ceded as part of a peace agreement is simply being naive. The Trump administration's pressure on Ukraine to cede territories to Russia was termed a "modern-day appeasement" by the former U.S. president. He also expressed concern that "Europe is going to lose confidence in the certainty and the leadership of America."
Biden also referenced the meeting between Volodymyr Zelensky and Trump at the White House on 28 February. The discussion about prospects for ending Russia's war against Ukraine ended in an unprecedented argument, during which Trump and Vance accused Zelensky of lacking gratitude and respect for the USA. According to Biden, it was "below American standards".
In the BBC interview, Biden criticised Trump's foreign policy vision and noted that further breaking ties by the U.S. could "change the modern history of the world." He also expressed concern about Trump's plans regarding the annexation of Greenland, Panama, or Canada.
"What the hell's going on here? What president ever talks like that?" Biden commented, emphasizing that Americans don’t operate that way: "We're about freedom, democracy, opportunity, not about confiscation."
Biden withdrew from the election campaign just four months before the U.S. elections. Instead of him, his vice president Kamala Harris ran for the presidency on behalf of the Democrats, who ultimately lost to Trump. Despite this, according to Biden, the decision to withdraw was correct.
