Biden says Putin ‘badly miscalculated’ with Ukraine invasion

Vladimir Putin “badly miscalculated” with his invasion of Ukraine, President Joe Biden said in his first State of the Union address on Tuesday, calling the Russian leader a “dictator” and warning that the war will leave his country weaker.

In a show of solidarity with Ukraine, Biden asked the audience for his speech to stand. Many lawmakers and guests held Ukrainian flags.

“He thought he could roll into Ukraine and the world would roll over. Instead he met a wall of strength he never imagined. He met the Ukrainian people,” Biden said.

Additionally, the U.S. and its allies were prepared for the invasion, Biden said, and have succeeded at isolating Russia and exacting an economic toll on the country.

“He thought the West and NATO wouldn’t respond. And he thought he could divide us at home,” Biden said. “Putin was wrong. We were ready.”

Ukraine’s ambassador to the U.S., Oksana Markarova, was invited to the address, and Biden also announced that the U.S. will close its airspace to Russian airlines, following the lead of more than a dozen European countries.

The war in Ukraine forced the White House to recast part of what is traditionally a speech focused on domestic issues. Biden warned that without imposing harsh punishments on Putin, his expansionist ambitions could extend even further into Europe.

“Throughout our history we’ve learned this lesson — when dictators do not pay a price for their aggression, they cause more chaos,” Biden said.

Tuesday night’s speech is not the first time Biden has called Putin a dictator. He slapped the label on the Russian leader as a presidential candidate in May 2019, and has also called him a “killer” and an “autocrat.” But the comments will take on new weight given the war in Europe.

Looming over Biden’s domestic woes are fears that the war could spiral into a wider conflict. During his campaign, Biden said his decades of foreign policy experience made him best equipped to guide America’s role in the world. But the disastrous U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan shook public confidence in his leadership, precipitating an erosion of his approval rating.

Biden’s speech, however, will still focus largely on domestic worries as his administration prepares for mid-term elections this fall that favor the Republican Party.

The speech, Biden’s second to a joint session of Congress, comes at a perilous moment for his presidency. Most Americans remain deeply pessimistic about the direction of the pandemic-weary country and state of the economy, and harbor doubts about his leadership and that of and his fellow Democrats, polls show.

He will unveil a new economic plan after his earlier proposal, “Build Back Better,” was rejected by Republicans and enough Democrats to doom it. The measures are aimed at two issues at the front of mind for most Americans: rising consumer prices and the still-lingering pandemic.

“We have a choice,” Biden will say, according to prepared remarks. “One way to fight inflation is to drive down wages and make Americans poorer. I have a better plan to fight inflation.”

He will call for moves to boost U.S. manufacturing, shore up supply chains, lower costs for health care and elder care and reduce the federal budget deficit. It’s a set of policies that may be aimed at appealing to moderates like West Virginia Democratic Senator Joe Manchin, whose opposition to Build Back Better — in part out of deficit and inflation concerns — effectively killed the social spending plan.

While Biden’s political standing has taken a beating over the past six months, he plans to defend his handling of the economy and the coronavirus. The president is expected to highlight what the White House says are his successes in helping the U.S. achieve its fastest economic growth in 40 years.

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