Biden told Austin, Blinken to tone down rhetoric against Russia: Report

US President Joe Biden told Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Secretary of State Antony Blinken in April to tone down their rhetoric against Russia, according to a report.

NBC News reported Thursday that the pushback came after the Pentagon chief said that the United States wanted Ukraine to win and that a weakened Russia that could not launch another attack.

Ratcheting up Washington’s offensive against Moscow over the military campaign in Ukraine, Blinken then publicly endorsed Austin’s comments.   

“We want to see Russia weakened to the degree that it can’t do the kinds of things that it has done in invading Ukraine,” Austin said at the time after the Cabinet members visited Kiev.

Meanwhile, White House National Security adviser Jake Sullivan said the United States ultimately wanted to see an “independent Ukraine” and “a weakened and isolated Russia.”

During a later conference call, Biden told the two officials he thought their remarks went too far and to tone them down, according to several current and former administration officials. 

One official told NBC News that Biden was concerned that Austin’s words could increase the chance Washington could get pulled into a direct conflict with Moscow.

“Biden was not happy when Blinken and Austin talked about winning in Ukraine,” one of the sources said. “He was not happy with the rhetoric.”

Russia launched its special operation in Ukraine in late February, following Kiev’s failure to implement the terms of the Minsk agreements and Moscow’s recognition of the breakaway regions of Donetsk and Luhansk.

At the time, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced one objective of the Russian campaign in neighboring Ukraine was what he described as a “special military operation” to “de-Nazify” Ukraine.

The Kremlin has since demanded that Ukraine officially declare itself a neutral country that will never join the US-led NATO military bloc.

The United States and its Western allies had stepped up military support for Ukraine, sending a wide array of defensive weapons meant to hold off Russia's advance.

The New York Times, citing US officials, reported that Washington had provided intelligence about Russian units that had helped Ukrainian forces kill many of the Russian generals in the war.

Russia accuses US of direct involvement in Ukraine war

The US and its Western allies have stepped up military support for Ukraine, sending a wide array of defensive weapons.

In response, Russia accused the United States of coordinating military operations in Ukraine, saying the move amounted to Washington’s direct involvement in military action against Moscow.

Biden, Blinken, and CIA chief William Burns were banned from entry to Russia due to anti-Russian activities.

“In response to the continuously imposed anti-Russian sanctions from the US and incoming requests about the exact composition of our national ‘stop list’, the Russian Foreign Ministry has published a list of American citizens who are permanently banned from entering Russia,” the Russian Foreign Ministry announced in a statement in May.

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