Team Bidens non-response to Russias hybrid war only fuels more aggression

The Biden administration last week announced that it granted Ukraine permission to use American weapons to hit Russian military targets inside Russia.Great.But a less risk-averse administration committed to enabling its ally to repel Russia and end the war quickly would’ve done that from the start.And the move follows a frustrating pattern of delays and denials, helping Ukraine just enough so it doesn’t collapse but bringing us no closer to the war’s end.All of which has only fueled Russian (and Chinese) aggression. Predictably, Team Biden’s announcement elicited a Kremlin condemnation — and a warning that Vladimir Putin lowered the country’s threshold for deploying a nuclear weapon.Russia also fired an intermediate-range missile at a Ukrainian city and warned it could fire one at any country that helped Ukraine strike Russia.By making a public announcement of the new policy, the Biden team permitted Russia to blame the United States, its NATO allies and Ukraine for prolonging the war and ratcheting up the aggression.But that blame goes to Russia, with the notable help of China. On Tuesday, something cut two undersea fiber-optic data cables — one between Lithuania and Sweden’s Gotland Island, the other between Finland and Germany.Officials in the affected countries are suspecting Russia.

The Danish navy detained a Chinese-registered container ship, which may have cut the Finland-Germany cable as it attempted to leave the Baltic Sea. This is not the first such incident: In 2023, the Chinese container ship Newnew Polar Bear dragged its anchor across the seabed, breaking a key undersea gas pipeline and two cables connecting Finland and Estonia.China insists it was an accident, and there has been no official statement by other nations contradicting China’s claim.But privately, Central and Eastern European officials believe it could’ve only occurred intentionally.Worryingly, a Russian cargo ship was in the area at the same time the Chinese...