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Eli Lake: Russia is attacking Ukraine because ‘Biden is weak’

Top Story, Ep. 38 JNS Editor-in-Chief Jonathan Tobin and journalist Eli Lake discuss the moves Joe Biden has made to undermine Vladimir Putin’s authority, including the “surrender and disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan.”.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has assessed that U.S. President Joe Biden is weak and likely attributed to his decision to escalate his country’s conflict with Ukraine now, according to JNS editor-in-chief Jonathan Tobin and American journalist Eli Lake.

Lake said Putin has “assessed that he is weak and that he is impotent, and that is really dangerous.”

In a conversation on this week’s “Top Story,” Tobin and Lake discuss the moves Biden has made to undermine his authority, such as his “surrender and disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan,” according to Lake.

Other examples were Biden’s decision to waive U.S. sanctions on Russia’s Nord Stream 2 pipeline and his eagerness to rejoin the Iranian nuclear deal with less than favorable conditions.

“We should all be concerned,” said Lake. “We’re not getting any kind of Iran deal to keep it from building nuclear infrastructure. … It is time to stop thinking there is going to be a diplomatic solution to the crisis with Iran.”

“Top Story” also airs on JBS-TV.

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Jonathan S. Tobin is editor-in-chief of the Jewish News Syndicate, a senior contributor for The Federalist, a columnist for Newsweek and a contributor to many other publications. He covers the American political scene, foreign policy, the U.S.-Israel relationship, Middle East diplomacy, the Jewish world and the arts. He hosts the JNS “Think Twice” podcast, both the weekly video program and the “Jonathan Tobin Daily” program, which are available on all major audio platforms and YouTube. Previously, he was executive editor, then senior online editor and chief political blogger, for Commentary magazine. Before that, he was editor-in-chief of The Jewish Exponent in Philadelphia and editor of the Connecticut Jewish Ledger. He has won more than 60 awards for commentary, art criticism and other writing. He appears regularly on television, commenting on politics and foreign policy. Born in New York City, he studied history at Columbia University.
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