Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who has been President of Russia since 2012. Putin has held continuous positions as president or prime minister since 1999: as prime minister from 1999 to 2000 and from 2008 to 2012, and as president from 2000 to 2008. He is the longest-serving Russian or Soviet leader since Joseph Stalin.
Lend-Lease, formally the Lend-Lease Act and introduced as An Act to Promote the Defense of the United States, was a policy under which the United States supplied the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union, France, Republic of China, and other Allied nations of the Second World War with food, oil, and materiel between 1941 and 1945. The aid was given free of charge on the basis that such help was essential for the defense of the United States.
Lloyd James Austin III is an American politician and retired United States Army four-star general who is serving as the 28th United States secretary of defense since January 22, 2021. Before retiring from the military in 2016, Austin served as the 12th commander of United States Central Command (CENTCOM), beginning in March 2013. Prior to that he served as the 33rd vice chief of staff of the Army from January 2012 to March 2013, and as commander of United States Forces – Iraq from September 2010 to December 2011. He is the first African American to hold each of these positions. After retiring from the armed services Austin joined the boards of Raytheon Technologies, Nucor, Tenet Healthcare, and Auburn University. On December 7, 2020, he was nominated for defense secretary by then-President-elect Joe Biden and was confirmed by the United States Senate on January 22, 2021, by a vote of 93–2.
Major non-NATO ally (MNNA) is a designation given by the United States government to countries that have strategic working relationships with the U.S. Armed Forces while not being members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). While the status does not automatically constitute a mutual defense pact with the United States, it does confer a variety of military and financial advantages that are otherwise unobtainable by non-NATO countries. There are currently 19 major non-NATO allies across four continents: 11 in Asia, 3 in Africa, 3 in South America, and 2 in Oceania.
Russia and the United States maintain one of the most important, critical and strategic foreign relations in the world. Both nations have shared interests in nuclear safety and security, nonproliferation, counterterrorism, and space exploration. Due to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, relations became very tense after the United States imposed sanctions against Russia. Russia placed the United States on a list of "unfriendly countries", along with Taiwan, South Korea, Japan, Singapore, European Union members, NATO members, Australia, New Zealand, Switzerland, Micronesia and Ukraine.
The United States officially recognized the independence of Ukraine on December 25, 1991. The United States upgraded its consulate in the capital, Kyiv, to embassy status on January 21, 1992. In 2002, relations between the United States and Ukraine deteriorated after one of the recordings made during the Cassette Scandal revealed an alleged transfer of a sophisticated Ukrainian defense system to Saddam Hussein's Iraq.
The Support for the Sovereignty, Integrity, Democracy, and Economic Stability of Ukraine Act of 2014 is an American Act of Congress that provides Ukraine with loan guarantees of up to $1 billion in response to the beginning of the Russo-Ukrainian war. The act became law during the 113th United States Congress. Congress considered several other bills that would provide aid to Ukraine around that same time, including S. 2124, a Senate bill with the same name, and the Ukraine Support Act.
The Ukraine Support Act was a proposed act of congress that would have clarified U.S. policy to support the sovereignty and territorial integrity of a democratic Ukraine, and in condemning Russia's illegal annexation of Crimea. The bill would offer loan guarantees, various types of aid, and place sanctions on people who were "responsible for or engaged in actions that undermine democratic processes in Ukraine or that threaten its peace or territorial integrity, acts of significant corruption in Ukraine, or the commission of serious human rights abuses."
International sanctions have been imposed against Russia and Crimea during the Russo-Ukrainian War by a large number of countries, including the United States, Canada, the European Union, and international organisations following the Russian annexation of Crimea, which began in late February 2014. Belarus has also been sanctioned for its cooperation with and assistance to Russian armed forces. The sanctions were imposed against individuals, businesses, and officials from Russia and Ukraine. Russia responded with sanctions against several countries, including a total ban on food imports from Australia, Canada, Norway, Japan, the United States, the EU and the United Kingdom.
Nord Stream 2 is a 1,234-kilometre-long (767 mi) natural gas pipeline from Russia to Germany running through the Baltic Sea, financed by Gazprom and several European energy companies. Feasibility studies began in 2011 to expand the Nord Stream 1 line and double annual capacity to 110 billion cubic metres, with construction beginning in 2018. It was completed in September 2021, but has not yet entered service. Planning and construction of the pipeline were mired in political controversy over fears that Russia would use it, 1 of 23 pipelines between Europe and Russia, for geopolitical advantage with Europe and Ukraine.
The Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) is a United States federal law that imposed sanctions on Iran, North Korea, and Russia. The bill was passed by the Senate on July 27, 2017, 98–2, after it passed the House 419–3. It was signed into law on August 2, 2017 by President Donald Trump, who nevertheless believed that the legislation was "seriously flawed".
Joe Biden's tenure as the 46th president of the United States began with his inauguration on January 20, 2021. Biden, a Democrat from Delaware who previously served as vice president for two terms under President Barack Obama, took office following his victory in the 2020 presidential election over Republican incumbent president Donald Trump. Upon his inauguration, he became the oldest president in American history, breaking the record set by his predecessor Trump. Biden entered office amid the COVID-19 pandemic, an economic crisis, and increased political polarization.
The foreign policy of the Joe Biden administration emphasizes the repair of the United States' alliances, which Biden argues were damaged during the Trump administration. The administration's goal is to restore the United States to a "position of trusted leadership" among global democracies in order to address challenges posed by Russia and China. Both Biden and his Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin have repeatedly emphasized that no other world power should be able to surpass the United States, either militarily or economically. Biden's foreign policy has been described as having ideological underpinnings in mid-twentieth century liberal internationalism, American exceptionalism, and pragmatism.
The following is a timeline of the presidency of Joe Biden during the first quarter of 2022, from January 1 to March 31, 2022. To navigate between quarters, see timeline of the Joe Biden presidency.
Many states, international organizations, and civil society actors worldwide had expressed their reactions to the then-escalating crisis between Russia and Ukraine that started in March 2021. The crisis eventually culminated in a Russian invasion of Ukraine, beginning on 24 February 2022.
Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2022 is a $1.5 trillion omnibus spending bill. The bill was passed by Congress on March 14, 2022. The bill was signed into law by President Joe Biden on March 15, 2022.
Following Russia's invasion of Ukraine beginning on 24 February 2022, the United States, the European Union, and other Western countries introduced or significantly expanded sanctions covering Russian President Vladimir Putin, other government members and Russian citizens in general. Some Russian banks were banned from using the SWIFT international payments system. The sanctions and the boycotts of Russia and Belarus impacted the Russian economy.
The response of the United States to the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine that began in 2022 has been in favor of Ukraine. President Biden condemned the invasion, providing military and humanitarian aid to Ukraine, and sanctioning Russia and Belarus, the countries heavily involved in invading Ukraine.
During the Russian invasion of Ukraine, several senior Russian politicians, including president Vladimir Putin, former president and prime minister Dmitry Medvedev, and foreign minister Sergey Lavrov, have made a number of statements widely seen as threatening the use of nuclear weapons. The possibility of Russia using tactical nuclear weapons, and the risk of broader nuclear escalation, has been widely discussed by commentators and in the media. Additionally, the Russian occupation of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant has led to a crisis over the safety of the plant and the risk of a nuclear disaster.
On March 26, 2022, roughly a month after Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, U.S. president Joe Biden delivered a speech at the Royal Castle in Warsaw, Poland.
