During the election, I predicted that Democrats would rush to quickly reboot their great reset with Russia while discarding all the Russiagate lies.

I was right and wrong. 

In a brilliantly Orwellian move, the Biden administration has embarked on a bold policy of pretending to make angry noises about Russia in the media while trying to appease and reset the relationship across diplomatic channels. 

If you get your news from the media then you’re going to see headlines like “Biden Administration Shows Appetite for High-Profile Fights With China and Russia” and “Biden Punishes Russia for Election Meddling”.

Of course, if you’re actually paying attention, then you know all that happened was some tit-for-tat expulsions of diplomats (US expels some Russians, Russia expels some Americans, in the usual Cold War fashion) and some meaningless sanctions that are weaker than what President Trump did. 

It’s all theater that doesn’t touch Nord Stream 2. 

And if you had actually listened to Biden’s speech, you would have heard a performance that’s a far cry from all those aggressive media headlines in which the Democrat pleaded with Putin to avoid a conflict, and all but admitted that the sanctions were hollow theater for domestic consumption.

(Transcript via Rev.com.)

“Earlier this week, I spoke with President Putin of Russia about the nature of our relationship, the relationship between our two countries. And I was candid, respectful. The conversation was candid and respectful. Two great powers with significant responsibility for global stability. And President Putin and I have had a significant responsibility to steward that relationship. I take that responsibility very seriously as I’m sure he does,” Biden opened his speech.

Biden emphasized that the response was measured, “I told them that we would shortly be responding in a measured and a proportionate way because we concluded that they had interfered in the election and SolarWinds was totally inappropriate.”

The dominant theme was that Biden wants an exit strategy. “I was clear with President Putin that we could have gone further, but I chose not to do so. I chose to be proportionate. The United States is not looking to kick off a cycle of escalation and conflict with Russia.”

That concluded with a proposed summit with Putin and another call for diplomacy. “Now is the time to deescalate. The way forward is through thoughtful dialogue and diplomatic process.” 

In the Q and A with reporters, Biden all but admitted that the sanctions were political theater that he expected the Russians to respond to in the same way.

“I said subsequent to that…I would respond in kind. I urged him to respond appropriately, not to exceed it,” Biden said.

What’s the point of all this if Biden and the Russians had all but worked out an exchange of meaningless responses? Theater.

When asked about Nord Stream 2, Biden replied with a rambling and meaningless statement about its complexity.  

“Nord Stream 2 is a complicated issue affecting our allies in Europe. I’ve been opposed to Nord Stream 2 for a long time from the beginning even when I was out of office and even before office, before I left office as vice president. But that’s still is an issue that is in play. Thank you very much,” he said.

The bottom line of all this is that Biden engaged in some sanctions theater in order to keep the Russian narrative alive, while looking to reset relations.

The fake fight with Russia is as fake as the rest of the Biden administration.