Biden’s major missile reversal complicates potential Western diplomatic thaw with Moscow
A decision by the United States to allow Ukraine to fire long-range missiles deeper inside Russian territory has complicated a potential Western diplomatic thaw with Russia as dozens of world leaders gather this week.
Sunday’s decision was viewed by many Western leaders as a way to position Ukraine for success ahead of a change in American leadership, with incoming President-elect Donald Trump skeptical of continued US assistance.
But it also complicated the diplomatic dance leaders attending G20 summits must partake in as they navigate the complex geopolitical dynamics of the bloc. Amid the change in strategy — which Joe Biden had deliberated for months — the US president and his team steered clear of Sergey Lavrov, Russia’s foreign affairs minister, on the ground in Rio. Lavrov is at the summit in place of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
And Biden and Lavrov’s fluid schedules meant that they were not photographed together with other world leaders.
Further, the pending Trump presidency shadowed nearly every discussion of the Ukraine conflict at the summit. Leaders at the summit are acutely aware of Trump’s views toward the war, but are less certain of how that will manifest in policy once he takes office.
It’s not clear, for example, whether Trump would uphold Biden’s decision on allowing Ukraine the long-range capability, a step that NATO leaders had been encouraging for months. Trump’s incoming national security adviser, Florida Rep. Mike Waltz, questioned the decision in an interview Monday.
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