Vice President Kamala Harris left on a peacekeeping mission in Europe on Thursday as Russia appeared to be speeding up preparations for an invasion of Ukraine — undeterred by her failure to resolve the ongoing US-Mexico border crisis as President Biden’s point of contact on illegal immigration .
About two hours after Harris left DC to attend the Munich Security Conference, Biden emerged from the White House and said he believed Russian President Vladimir Putin would launch an invasion of Ukraine “within the next few days.”
As Harris flew east to Germany, Biden traveled west to Lorain, Ohio to talk about his three-month-old bipartisan infrastructure bill’s fix for pollution in the Great Lakes — prompting his aides to insist the outing let him would not distract from the possible outbreak of the largest and deadliest conflict in Europe since World War II.
“I doubt [Putin’s] I’m sitting in the Kremlin shaking because Kamala Harris is over there,” said Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.), a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. said in an interview with Newsmax TV Wednesday.
“She couldn’t spill anything out of a boot with instructions written on the heel,” added Burchett. “She can’t even find our southern border, let alone the Ukrainian border. This is a joke, this is a farce.”
Biden used Harris in March to curb illegal immigration across the southern border, but the crisis only worsened, with a record-breaking 1.9 million arrests in 2021. Critics blame the Biden administration’s lax enforcement policies, but Harris defended her work in Honduras last month by saying tackling the “root causes” of illegal immigration would not have an “overnight” effect.
The vice president’s performance on the US border crisis received a bipartisan backlash, including Rep. Henry Cueller (D-Texas), who said in December, “She was assigned this job, [but] it doesn’t look like she’s very interested in it.”
“Biden is sending Kamala Harris to Europe to ease tensions between Russia and Ukraine,” Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) said. tweeted last weekShe sarcastically adds, “Right, because she’s so comfortable with our southern border…”
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, among other Baltic country leaders.” class=”wp-image-21246204″ srcset=”https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/02/kamala-02.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=1535 1536w, https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/02/kamala-02.jpg?quality=90&strip=all 1024w, https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/02/kamala-02.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=512 512w” sizes=”(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px”/>
Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) tweeted a video clip of The Office’s fictional boss Michael Scott yelling, “No, God, please no! No! No! No!” to indicate Ukraine’s likely reaction to Harris representing the US in Munich.
Other social media users were more supportive. “Have a nice trip and give them hell MVP!” one person tweeted.
After arriving in Europe, Harris will meet with the leaders of the three Baltic countries – Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania – on Friday before delivering a standard speech on the Ukraine crisis on Saturday.
Harris will also meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
Deputy White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre insisted Thursday that Biden’s trip to Ohio will not detract from his focus on Ukraine.
“A senior State Department official said this morning that this may be the most dangerous moment for peace and security since the Cold War,” a reporter asked. “So are there concerns that this trip could distract the President from thinking about Ukraine and Russia?”
Jean-Pierre replied: “Every president, whether democratic or republican, has managed several crises like once. And that’s exactly what this President is doing. He was previously Vice President, he was in the Senate. He knows how to deal with multiple crises at once… But that won’t stop him from doing what he needs to do for the American public.”
In a call Wednesday night with reporters, officials defended Biden’s decision to skip the annual Munich conference and send Harris in his place.
“He has participated in the past,” a reporter pointed out.
“The then Vice President Biden attended the Munich conference on several occasions. And of course, as a senator, he took part in the Munich Security Conference several times. He understands how important the conference itself is,” a US official replied, adding, “We are pleased that the Vice President can now lead the US delegation to Munich and we think this is really a great opportunity.”
When Biden was vice president in 2014, Russia invaded the Crimean Peninsula and annexed the territory from Ukraine after a disputed referendum. Putin’s government is also said to have fueled the rebellion of two pro-Russian breakaway states in eastern Ukraine.
Biden then directed the Obama administration’s Ukraine policy. In 2014, despite a lack of relevant industry experience, his son Hunter joined the board of directors of Ukrainian energy company Burisma, earning an annual salary of up to $1 million. GDP per capita is less than $4,000 in the poor and notoriously corrupt nation.
Russian officials insist no invasion of Ukraine is in the works, but American and Western officials have repeatedly warned of an invasion for weeks. An official claimed Russia had moved another 7,000 troops to the Ukrainian border in recent days, despite claims that some of the roughly 150,000 Russian troops nearby were at a disadvantage.
Biden last week threatened to punish Russia by blocking operations of the Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline, which is poised to pipe fuel directly to Germany via the Baltic Sea rather than through Ukraine.
“If Russia invades – that means that tanks or troops cross the border to Ukraine again – then Nord Stream 2 will no longer exist,” Biden said at a joint press conference with Scholz.
Russia invades Ukraine.” class=”wp-image-21246121″ srcset=”https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/02/joe-biden-15.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=1535 1536w, https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/02/joe-biden-15.jpg?quality=90&strip=all 1024w, https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/02/joe-biden-15.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=512 512w” sizes=”(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px”/>Scholz seemed less enthusiastic about the idea – saying “We are absolutely united” but specifically refusing to say the words “Nord Stream 2”.
Biden said in a televised interview last week that he would not send U.S. troops to Ukraine to evacuate Americans if Russia invaded because it could trigger a “world war” and “things could get crazy fast.”
Biden has threatened “heavy” sanctions against Russia, but he horrified Ukrainian officials last month when he said that “minor interference” by Russia in Ukraine could result in less severe penalties – saying that Putin’s remark was “green.” Light “could give” to penetrate.
