In an address to the Business Roundtable’s CEO gathering Monday night, President Joe Biden painted a bleak image of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s goals in Ukraine, accusing the Kremlin of employing frightening weaponry in its unjustified attack. According to Biden, Putin’s back is against the wall, forcing him to consider desperate measures including additional false flag strikes and the deployment of chemical weapons in Ukraine.
The president said that Putin was involved in malicious cyber activities in Ukraine and alleged that Putin had deployed a hypersonic missile. “As you all know, it’s a consequential weapon. … It’s almost impossible to stop it,” he said. “There’s a reason they’re using it.” Biden added that “Putin’s back is against the wall. … The more his back is against the wall, the greater severity of the tactics he may employ.”
The president congratulated the gathered CEOs for voluntarily “winding down” their commercial activities in Russia as part of a more significant push to increase the economic price of Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. Although a lot of Biden’s remarks focused on Russian activity in Ukraine, he did forecast that Russia would launch cyberattacks against the US. He said, “It’s coming.”
Earlier in the day, the White House asked the private sector to take precautions against such cyberattacks. He said his administration is reaffirming previous warnings based on evolving data that the Russian government is considering alternatives for possible cyberattacks. He continued to say that this sector has the authority, capability, and obligation to improve the security and resilience of essential services and technology that Americans rely on.
“We need everyone to do their part to meet one of the defining threats of our time — your vigilance and urgency today can prevent or mitigate attacks tomorrow.”
At Monday’s press conference, White House deputy national security advisor for cyber and emerging technologies Anne Neuberger told reporters that they were unaware of anything imminent but had seen grounds for worry. She said that there aren’t any signs of an expected hack. There were some preparatory activities, and information about them was communicated in a classified context.
Earlier, the Pentagon said Russia’s use of a hypersonic missile in Ukraine was a “head-scratcher” that didn’t show “a whole lot of practicality.” According to Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, Putin may be enraged at the invasion’s sluggish pace. Biden praised NATO’s solidarity against Russia since the war started. He said that Putin “was counting on being able to split NATO. … I can assure you, NATO has never been stronger, more united, in its entire history than it is today, in large part because of Vladimir Putin.”
Biden’s campaign to strengthen Ukraine’s defenses and punish Russia for the incursions has received strong bipartisan backing on Capitol Hill. Still, the White House hasn’t granted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky all he’s asked for. On Wednesday, Biden will go to Brussels for a special meeting with NATO members to discuss the conflict. He also included Poland in his travel
