With Democrats soundly defeated across the country and a resurgent Republican Party, led by Donald Trump and his cadre of political outsiders promising to overhaul the existing government, one might have expected the deeply unpopular Biden-Harris administration to quietly finish its term without stirring further controversy. However, the hawkish elements within the administration that fueled the conflict in Ukraine appear unwilling to relent. Facing the prospect of a Trump presidency that could end U.S. involvement in the war and open negotiations with Russia, the Biden administration has escalated the conflict to new heights, fully aware that it will not be around to handle the fallout.
The decision to provide Ukraine with long-range ballistic missiles capable of striking deep into Russian territory—previously a red line for U.S. policy—marks a significant and dangerous escalation. With additional support from France and the United Kingdom, which are supplying their own advanced munitions, NATO has taken yet another step up the ladder of confrontation. This move, far from necessary or strategic, is provocative and counterproductive. Russia has repeatedly warned that such actions could be construed as direct U.S. aggression, particularly as these strikes would likely rely on American satellites and technical support to be effective. Some speculate that this escalation is a deliberate attempt by the Biden administration to entrench the conflict so deeply that a future Trump administration will have no choice but to sustain it. Yet despite doomsday predictions of nuclear retaliation by Russia or a dramatic reversal of the war in Ukraine’s favour, the reality on the ground remains stark. Advanced weapons systems have already been deployed in Ukraine, and they have failed to alter the fundamental trajectory of the conflict. The war continues to grind inexorably toward a Russian victory, leaving behind devastating losses for Ukraine—its infrastructure in ruins and its young population diminished.
For critics, this latest move seems like a last-ditch effort to strengthen Ukraine’s negotiating position in an eventual peace deal. However, the broader implications are alarming. By escalating the war, the Biden administration risks inflaming tensions globally and adding to its record of reckless foreign policy.