Biden Criticizes Trump's Russia Policy, Calls It Appeasement
LONDON (Reuters) - Former U.S. President Joe Biden said his successor Donald Trump's pressure on Ukraine to give up territory to Russia is a form of "modern-day appeasement" that will never satisfy Moscow.
In an interview with the BBC broadcast on Wednesday, Biden said Russian President Vladimir Putin believes Ukraine is part of "mother Russia" and "anybody who thinks he's going to stop is just foolish".
"I just don't understand how people think that if we allow a dictator, a thug, to decide he's going to take significant portions of land that aren't his, that that's going to satisfy him," he told the BBC. "I don't quite understand."
He also expressed concern that "Europe is going to lose confidence in the certainty of America and the leadership of America".
Europe's leaders were "wondering, well, what do I do now?... Can I rely on the United States? Are they going to be there?," Biden said.
(Reporting by Kate Holton and William Schomberg; Editing by Andrew Heavens)
