President Donald Trump said Joe Biden failed to grasp the seriousness of the threat posed by Russia prior to its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
“You can blame the person who was in charge at the time — Biden. He didn’t understand what was happening,” Trump said in a recent statement.
Trump also criticized the Biden administration’s approach to Ukraine, particularly signaling potential NATO membership, which he claimed may have given Russia a pretext for aggression.
Reiterating a familiar talking point, Trump insisted that a full-scale war would not have happened if he were still President. He has previously claimed that his administration’s diplomacy would have deterred Russia from invading Ukraine.
While Trump took aim at Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy with personal remarks, he acknowledged that what he sees as weak leadership and failed diplomacy from the current administration enabled Moscow to launch its invasion.
Trump has repeatedly blamed Biden for the war, most recently in August, saying it was the result of "failed policy" that didn’t deter the Kremlin or protect U.S. allies.