Former U.S. President Joe Biden has criticized Donald Trump’s administration, accusing it of engaging in “modern-day appeasement” in its handling of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
In his first interview since leaving office in January, Biden warned that the longstanding transatlantic alliance—credited with preventing a world war for eight decades—is now under serious threat.
Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s ‘Today’ programme to mark the 80th anniversary of VE Day, the former American leader questioned the logic of appeasing authoritarian leaders.
“I just don’t understand how people think that if we allow a dictator, a thug, to decide he’s going to take significant portions of land that aren’t his and that’s gonna satisfy him, I don’t quite understand,” Biden said.
“It is modern-day appeasement.
“What this man wants to do is re-establish the Warsaw Pact — he can’t stand the fact that the Russian dictatorship that he runs, that the Soviet Union has collapsed.
“And anybody that thinks he’s just gonna stop is foolish,” he added.
Biden emphasized NATO’s role in maintaining global peace since World War II and expressed concern over actions he believes could destabilize that legacy.
