Trump was a jellyfish in world affairs, and adversaries sneered at him. Biden knows how to stand up to bullies. Russia is a weak country, and Putin is playing a weak hand (read story here). Instead of dismissing our European partners, as Trump did, Biden is working with them to rein Putin in.
“His country has an economy roughly the same size as New York. If the West properly coordinated economic sanctions against him and against Russian business without fear, he would be backed into a corner very quickly,” says Bill Browder, a prominent American-born financier.
Is Biden really going to tell US banks they cannot do business with Russia and cannot do business with any bank doing business with Russia. That is the economic sanction that Putin will listen too. Might get a big chilly in Europe but it would make paying for Russian gas difficult or a bunch of European banks would become persona non grata here.
The bear also maybe upset when backed into a corner. Bears do eat people.
Bloomberg reported in December (here) that the sanctions under consideration would target Russia’s biggest banks, keep investors buying Russian debt, and prevent converting rubles into dollars and euros. Who cares if that upsets Putin? What’s he going to do? Boycott the next U.S. Olympics?