Fmr Ambassador: US Overestimated Putin's 'Red Lines'

The Biden administration was far too cautious and overestimated Russian President Vladimir Putin "red lines" as it pertained to supplying arms to Ukraine, former ambassador to Russia John Sullivan told Newsweek.

Further, Sullivan said it was a "failure" of the administration to delay much-needed weaponry to Ukraine over fears that Putin might escalate to nuclear weapons.

"It was a failure on the part of the United States to supply what the Ukrainians needed beyond their heroic resistance," Sullivan told Newsweek in a story published Tuesday. "Whether it's M1A1 tanks, F-16s, missiles, it's just been delay, delay, delay."

Sullivan, ambassador under former President Donald Trump and President Joe Biden, from 2020 to 2022, said "concern about a red line from Putin" should never have been a factor in the Biden administration's military support of Ukraine.

Putin "does not want a nuclear war with the United States — no one in their right mind would and he is not insane," Sullivan told Newsweek.

Sullivan added that Putin's threat of using nukes is more than saber-rattling and should be considered but not cowered to.

"It's easy for me to say 'the Russians won't use a nuke,' but if I'm the person who actually has to set the policy, that's a pretty significant risk, even if fleetingly low because the consequences would be so severe," Sullivan told Newsweek. "It needs to be considered. I think the balance that was struck over time overstated the risk.

"The Ukrainians needed more sooner, they didn't get it."

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