Biden accuses Putin of waging ‘hybrid warfare’ in Europe
US Vice President Joe Biden has accused Russia of using “hybrid warfare” to undermine its European neighbors and extend its influence throughout the continent.
The US-European alliance is facing its biggest challenge since the Cold War through Moscow’s funding of “anti-systemic” movements in Europe, Biden said Wednesday in a speech at the Brookings Institution in Washington.
“The Kremlin is working hard to buy off and co-opt European political forces, funding both right wing and left wing anti-systemic parties throughout Europe,” Biden said. Russia and other nations also “are using corruption and oligarchs as tools of coercion.”
“Russia is taking steps to undermine its European neighbors and strengthen its hegemonic position,” he added.
Biden said Russian President Vladimir Putin’s government has pursued “aggressive repression” at home, while showing “contempt” for his smaller neighbors, and “pure aggression” toward Ukraine.
Relations between the United States and Russia are at their lowest point since the end of the Cold War in 1991, largely due to the crisis in Ukraine.
The ties deteriorated after US-backed forces ousted the Ukraine’s elected president Viktor Yanukovych in February 2014.
The US and its allies accuse Moscow of sending troops into eastern Ukraine in support of the pro-Russian forces. Moscow has long denied involvement in Ukraine's crisis.
Moscow says Washington is responsible for the escalating tension in Ukraine through sending arms in support of the Ukrainian army.
“Russia’s aggression in Ukraine is abetted by a hyper-aggressive state-sponsored Russian propaganda machine that actively spreads disinformation -- and does it very well, I might add,” Biden said.
He also said anti-Moscow sanctions will continue until the Minsk agreement is fully implemented by the Kremlin.
The US vice president, however, noted that the White House must cooperate with the Kremlin in order to improve tensions and maintain stability.
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