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Commentary
Wall Street Journal

Putin’s Rising Price for Peace in Ukraine

Facing years of aid for a costly war, the West is now likely to seek, not offer, an off-ramp.

walter_russell_mead
walter_russell_mead
Ravenel B. Curry III Distinguished Fellow in Strategy and Statesmanship
German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier welcomes US President Joe Biden at Schloss Bellevue on October 18, 2024, in Berlin, Germany. (Sean Gallup via Getty Images)
Caption
German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier welcomes US President Joe Biden at Schloss Bellevue on October 18, 2024, in Berlin, Germany. (Sean Gallup via Getty Images)

When German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier awarded Joe Biden the Grand Cross special class of the German Order of Merit in Bellevue Palace here last week, it was a moment of vindication for the beleaguered American president. The only other American so honored was George H.W. Bush, who supported German unification at the end of the Cold War against objections from Russia, Britain and France.

Mr. Biden believes that the U.S.-German partnership is the foundation of the trans-Atlantic alliance. As the West faces challenges from a newly energized and aggressive group of authoritarian and totalitarian revisionist powers, Mr. Biden thinks the U.S.-German partnership will stand at the heart of the alliance of democracies united in defense of the current world order.

Read the full article in The Wall Street Journal.

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