It is said that, inevitably, history repeats itself. Unfortunately, it appears that sentiment is truer than many appreciate.

Following Joe Biden’s Tuesday virtual meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in which he warned the Russian strongman of “a very real cost” should he move against Ukraine, the Associated Press reported (and kind of buried down in its story) something hugely significant: “Administration officials have suggested that the U.S. will press Ukraine to formally cede a measure of autonomy within its eastern Donbas region, which is now under de facto control by Russia-backed separatists who rose up against Kyiv in 2014.”

What is this, 1938?

Clearly, Putin wants control over Ukraine. Why? Our Mark Alexander answered that question Wednesday: “One reason is the threat that Ukraine could become a NATO country, providing a military staging ground on Russia’s western front. But more to the point would be that Putin, now 69 with some ailments, would like to see the reunification of Ukraine with Russia as his legacy.”

After the AP’s report, the White House was quick to assert that Joe “Neville” Biden was not entertaining a Sudetenland rerun. Press Secretary Jen Psaki insisted the report was “absolutely false” and that the administration’s diplomatic efforts to stave off a Russian invasion of Ukraine did not include pressuring Kyiv to cede any territory. We believe Biden did demand this concession.

Yeah, and Joe Biden didn’t work out a quid pro quo with Ukraine, either.

In a contest between a lying administration and a dishonest media, who are Americans to believe?

Recall this is the same president and administration that repeatedly claimed any COVID vaccine mandate was off the table, with Psaki even suggesting a mandate would be unconstitutional mere months before Biden issued that very mandate. What changed? The Constitution certainly didn’t.

Biden clearly has no appetite for standing up to foreign adversaries — especially when the going gets tough, i.e. surrendering to the Taliban in Afghanistan. At the same time on the domestic front, he steps all over the Constitution in his efforts to exert draconian controls over the American people, threatening their livelihoods and freedom, as well as our national prosperity.

Biden kills the Keystone XL pipeline, and then turns and green-lights Russia’s Nord Stream 2 pipeline by lifting sanctions against one of Putin’s most obvious efforts to exert a stranglehold over eastern Europe’s access to energy. Policies aside, Biden’s personal history and family corruption vis-à-vis Ukraine compromises his position entirely.

Forgive us if we don’t believe Psaki’s denials regarding that Ukrainian territory. Until Biden actually shows some stones by at the very least reinstating sanctions against Nord Stream 2, no one should believe his “tough guy” rhetoric. We’re certain that neither China’s Xi Jinping nor Putin are taking Biden seriously. After he surrendered Afghanistan, why would they?