, Columnist
Putin Has His Eye on Ukraine. Biden Must Stare Him Down.
Troops massing on Russia’s western border may be a ploy to deter U.S. sanctions — or they may signal the world’s next geopolitical crisis.
Song of himself.
Photographer: Alexander Zemlianichenko/AFP/Getty Images
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Russia is massing troops — reportedly as many as 20,000 — along its border with Ukraine. Is President Vladimir Putin simply testing Washington, seeking leverage to push back on sanctions that are about to be announced for the poisoning and imprisonment of opposition leader Alexey Navalny and the hack of SolarWinds Corp.?
Or is he actually preparing again to invade a sovereign state and carve another chunk or two out of its territory? How can President Joe Biden’s administration deter yet another violation of international law?