Sunday, February 20
If there was anything Mr. Biden wanted to convey to his National Security Council in the Situation Room Sunday morning, it was that the United States remains “in step with allies and partners,” as Secretary of State Anthony J. Blinken put it. . put later.
This desire was at the heart of the American response that Mr. Biden developed with Mr. Blinken; Jake Sullivan, his national security adviser; and others. The results will become clear soon enough, as Mr. Biden’s team repeatedly waited for European countries to impose sanctions before following suit.
Diplomacy, including a 15-minute conversation between Mr Biden and French President Emmanuel Macron, did little to reassure Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who was frustrated by Mr Biden’s warnings about an invasion. On her way back from the Munich Security Conference on Sunday, Vice President Kamala Harris spoke with Mr. Biden of Air Force Two.
She repeated to Mr. Zelensky that the United States believed a Russian invasion was imminent, she told Mr. Biden. And she assured the Ukrainian president that the administration was ready to impose economic sanctions along with its European allies.
But the issues of war and diplomacy – briefly – gave way to issues of public health. That same day, Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, Mr. Biden’s top public health adviser, arrived with good news: We may finally be able to take off our masks.
There has been mounting pressure on Mr. Biden from Democratic governors to allay anxieties among voters exhausted by the restrictions. But, as he promised, he was waiting for the CDC. Federal health officials have been working for weeks on guidance that says 70 percent of Americans will be able to stop wearing masks, beginning the transition from pandemic to endemic. that will become part of everyday life.
But that Sunday, he had little time to reflect on the pandemic. Toward evening, his assistants led him to the State Canteen, where the pulpit was waiting. This was his first opportunity to practice the first draft of his address to Congress.