Trump Blames Biden’s Afghanistan Withdrawal for Putin’s Ukraine Invasion

US President Donald Trump claimed that Russian President Vladimir Putin felt emboldened to invade Ukraine after witnessing the Biden administration’s “chaotic withdrawal” from Afghanistan.

In August 2021, the US withdrew its troops from Afghanistan, ending a 20-year war. The withdrawal was chaotic – the Afghan government collapsed, the Taliban quickly took control, and thousands of people rushed to Kabul airport, desperate to flee.

A suicide bombing at the airport killed 13 US troops and over 170 Afghans. The Biden administration faced heavy criticism for the rushed evacuation, leaving behind allies and military equipment.

In his address to Congress on Tuesday, Trump slammed President Joe Biden’s handling of the August 2021 exit, calling it a “political disaster.”

“When Putin saw what happened, I guess he said, ‘Well, maybe this is my chance.’ That’s how bad it was,” Trump said. “Should have never happened. Grossly incompetent people.”

Trump also spoke about US support for Ukraine, saying he is “working tirelessly to end the savage conflict” and highlighting the devastating toll of the war.

“Millions of Ukrainians and Russians have been needlessly killed or wounded in this horrific and brutal conflict, with no end in sight,” he said. “The United States has sent hundreds of billions of dollars to support Ukraine’s defense, with no security, with no anything. Do you want to keep it going for another five years?”

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What Trump did not mention is that “his administration signed a peace agreement with America’s erstwhile enemy, the Taliban, in February” of 2020, without including the Afghanistan government in the discussion, according to analysis by Vision of Humanity.org.

Writing of Trump’s unilateral deal with the Taliban, before Biden was president, the organization published this analysis:

“The agreement, however, is badly flawed. It was primarily designed to reduce US military occupation of troops from 14,000 to 4,500. Yet, it didn’t commit the Taliban to a ceasefire or to curtail their operations against Afghan forces.

“Nor did it oblige the militia to engage in a genuine inter-Afghan dialogue. Similarly, it failed to take note of the fact that the Taliban had limited territorial control, mostly outside the main urban centres, and that the militia was still embedded with al-Qaeda.”

They summarized their prognosis under Trump’s peace plan at the time, predicting:

“The prospects for a return of peace, stability and security remain elusive for the Afghans and their region. Trump did not start the Afghan war, but the way in which he is disentangling the US from it may well prove to be very counterproductive.”