President Biden privately pointed the finger at former President Barack Obama for failures that led to Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, the largest conflict in Europe since World War II, a new book claims.
“They f–ked up in 2014,” Biden, Obama’s former vice president and onetime point person on Ukraine, vented to a friend, according to Bob Woodward’s upcoming book, “War,” previewed by CNN.
“That’s why we are here,” the 81-year-old added. “We f–ked it up. Barack never took [Russian President Vladimir] Putin seriously.”
“We did nothing. We gave Putin a license to continue!” the president went on. “Well, I’m revoking his f–king license!”
In 2014, the Kremlin annexed the Crimean Peninsula after the ouster of Moscow-friendly Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych during the Revolution of Dignity.
Russia later flooded Crimea with migrants and held onto it despite Ukraine’s efforts at sabotage, including by restricting water.
During that invasion, Obama, now 63, slapped sanctions against Russia and took steps to help beef up Ukraine’s military.
However, he stopped short of funneling lethal military weaponry to the beleaguered country, something former President Donald Trump would later do.
Between 2014 and Russia’s February 2022 invasion, tensions exploded between the two neighboring countries and Ukraine became engulfed in a war against pro-Russia factions in the Donbas region, which Putin used as a pretext to invade.
Obama had tried to ease relations with Russia, infamously working toward a “reset” with Moscow. The 44th president particularly sought to capitalize on Putin’s brief absence from the presidency between 2008 and 2012.
In 2012, the Democrat had a hot mic moment with then-Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, in which he assured his counterpart that he’d have more “flexibility” on the topic of missile defense after that year’s election.
Later that year, Obama downplayed the threat Russia posed to the US during his debate against then-Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney.
“The 1980s are now calling to ask for their foreign policy back because the Cold War’s been over for 20 years,” Obama chided at the time.
At one point after leaving the vice presidency in 2017, Biden boasted about pushing Ukrainian officials to fire Kyiv Prosecutor-General Viktor Shokin in return for $1 billion in US aid
Shokin, 71, later claimed that he was gearing up to investigate natural gas firm Burisma Holdings, on whose board Hunter Biden sat at the time.
Those machinations later became the subject of investigations from congressional Republicans.
Another revelation from Woodward’s book is that Biden fumed over Attorney General Merrick Garland, whose Justice Department pursued charges against 54-year-old first son Hunter Biden.
“Should never have picked Garland,” the president reflected to a confidant, per Woodward. “This is never going to f—ing go away.”
Hunter Biden, 54, was found guilty by a jury of federal gun charges. In September, he pleaded guilty to bilking Uncle Sam out of $1.4 million in taxes.
The president has publicly stated that he will not pardon his son.
“War” is set to hit bookshelves on Oct. 15.
