The Biden administration appears to be in the midst of a diplomatic retreat, struggling to use the word “invasion” to describe Russia’s entry into parts of Ukraine Monday.

Biden administration officials largely avoided calling Russia’s entry into the Luhansk and Donetsk regions an “invasion” Monday, with one senior official saying that “Russian troops moving into Donbas would not itself be a new step” and that Russia “has had forces in the Donbas for the past eight years.”

But the administration’s moves Monday to sidestep labeling Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion into parts of Ukraine an “invasion” drew criticism from other political leaders, who fear the administration is tip-toeing around the possibility of stoking any bigger flames. Read Full Story

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Nearly 200 House Republicans have written to President Joe Biden warning any nuclear deal made with Iran without Congress’ approval “will meet the same fate” as the 2015 agreement by President Barack Obama later abandoned by President Donald Trump.

Why it matters: The Biden administration has been working feverishly to secure an agreement via indirect nuclear talks in Vienna, but on Wednesday an Iranian official publicly called for Congress to pledge that the U.S. will stay in a potential deal.

The GOP letter — signed by most members of the party that polls say will run the House next year — bluntly rebuffs Iran’s request.

It also complicates Biden’s already-fraught efforts to revive the deal negotiated by the Obama administration and backed by the European Union and U.N. Security Council. Read Full Story

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What if the idea of Russia invading Ukraine is a hoax? What if it’s just Russia doing what Russia loves doing — saber rattling — and nothing else? What if the Western governments scrambling now to “prevent war” know this and are hoping the whole situation serve as a distraction from the various “Freedom Convoys” forming around the world to protest oppressive and ineffective government actions related to COVID-19?

Joe Biden needs a distraction from a lot of things, inflation being chief among them. It makes sense that he’s spewing things in such a panicked way that even the president of Ukraine is confused by it. You’d think the leader of the country “on the verge” of being invaded would be sounding the loudest alarm, but he’s not. The American president is.

Joe needs a “victory” of some sort, something to make him seem effective and tough, something his handlers think will wash the taste of Afghanistan out of our collective mouths. It won’t work. Read Full Story

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