--- title: How the West Can Stop Putin description: A former NATO commander on how the U.S. and the West can stand up to Vladimir Putin and halt his aggressive foreign policy canonical: https://time.com/6150300/vladimir-putin-russia-ukraine-stop/ author: James Stavridis article:opinion: true article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2022-02-23T11:00:40.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-14T09:32:59.731Z article:section: Ideas og:title: How the West Can Stop Putin og:description: What the U.S. and the West can do to stand up to Vladimir Putin and halt his military action in Ukraine og:url: https://time.com/6150300/vladimir-putin-russia-ukraine-stop/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt21b615a0f503c98d/698a22a7b3fce350680c8f6c/GettyImages-1238689525.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1024 og:image:height: 576 og:image:alt: Presidents of Russia and Azerbaijan meet in Moscow og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: How the West Can Stop Putin twitter:description: What the U.S. and the West can do to stand up to Vladimir Putin and halt his military action in Ukraine twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt21b615a0f503c98d/698a22a7b3fce350680c8f6c/GettyImages-1238689525.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 video:duration: 02:38 video:published: 2022-02-24 section: world topics: Russian invasion of Ukraine, economic sanctions, NATO deployments, SWIFT banking system, gas prices, U.S. foreign policy, Putin's ambitions, declassified intelligence genre: news, press conference tones: resolute, serious, firm, measured emotions: determination (high), anger (medium), concern (medium) sentiment: negative audience: general news audiences, policy observers, international affairs readers, U.S. citizens concerned about gas prices people: Joe Biden, Vladimir Putin organizations: NATO, SWIFT, Russian military, United States government content_suitability: war [00:00-02:38]; politics [00:00-02:38] transcript_source: automatic transcription transcript_reviewed: not applicable ---  # How the West Can Stop Putin > Sponsored content. 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It explains how TIME's journalism is made, from the first pitch through the editorial decisions behind a finished story or cover. #### How can I read about how TIME chooses its covers? Inside TIME is the newsletter where TIME's Editor-in-Chief explains cover selection and the editorial reasoning behind major stories. It is free at time.com/newsletters. #### Who is the editor of TIME? Sam Jacobs is TIME's Editor-in-Chief. He writes Inside TIME, a twice-weekly newsletter about the newsroom's reporting and editorial decisions. #### Is Inside TIME free? Yes. Inside TIME is a free newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. A paid TIME subscription is separate and available at time.com/subscribe-agent. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-inside-2026q3/newsletters?i=99fa3370-7850-4962-a0f8-e5f0d2c73e81&cr=time-nl-inside-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Biden Condemns Russia's Invasion of Ukraine [Watch (HLS stream): Biden Condemns Russia's Invasion of Ukraine](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/24khgQIY.m3u8) (2:38)  _Published 2022-02-24. When Joe Biden, visibly tired and facing a crisis of generation-defining proportions, walked to the lectern under the chandeliers of the White House East Room on Thursday, he did his best to show resolve about America’s preeminent place in the world order._ Description, summary, key points, chapters, key quotes, questions and transcript, where present, were produced automatically from the video or its captions and were not reviewed. ## Summary Biden condemns Russia's invasion of Ukraine, calling it a premeditated and unprovoked attack by Vladimir Putin. He describes U.S. efforts to share declassified intelligence beforehand and announces new sanctions designed to hurt the Russian economy over the long term. He also notes troop deployments to NATO eastern flank allies. In answer to a question, he explains why SWIFT was not included and says Putin aims to reestablish the former Soviet Union. ## Key points - The Russian military has begun a brutal assault on the people of Ukraine, which Biden calls unprovoked and premeditated. (00:00) - Biden says the U.S. shared declassified evidence of Russia's plans, cyberattacks and false pretexts so there could be no cover-up. (00:00) - Biden states that Putin chose this war and that he and his country will bear the consequences. (00:30) - Biden authorizes additional strong sanctions and new export limitations on Russia, designed to impose severe costs on the Russian economy. (00:39) - Biden ordered thousands of additional forces to Germany and Poland as part of the U.S. commitment to NATO. (01:06) - Biden authorized deployment of ground and air forces already in Europe to NATO eastern flank allies Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Romania. (01:12) - Biden acknowledges Americans are hurting and pledges to limit the pain felt at the gas pump. (01:29) - Biden says Putin's ambitions include reestablishing the former Soviet Union, and that the rest of Europe does not wish to cut Russia off from SWIFT right now. (02:04) ## Chapters - [00:00 to 00:39] Condemning the invasion and sharing intelligence. Biden denounces the Russian assault as premeditated and describes the U.S. transparency about Russia's plans. - [00:39 to 01:29] Announcing sanctions and export limits. Biden describes new sanctions designed for long-term impact on Russia while limiting harm to the U.S. and allies. - [01:29 to 02:04] Troop deployments and gas price concerns. Biden details NATO force deployments and acknowledges the domestic cost of higher gas prices. - [02:04 to 02:38] Explaining the SWIFT decision. Biden answers a question on why SWIFT was not sanctioned and cites Putin's broader ambitions. ## Key quotes - [00:00] Joe Biden: "This is a premeditated attack." - [00:33] Joe Biden: "Putin chose this war." - [01:44] Joe Biden: "America stands up to bullies." - [01:51] Joe Biden: "We stand up for freedom." - [02:04] Joe Biden: "He wants to, in fact, reestablish the former Soviet Union." ## Questions this video answers - Why did the U.S. not include SWIFT in the announced sanctions? [01:54] - Is there a disagreement among allies over sanctioning SWIFT? [02:02] - What troop deployments has the U.S. ordered in response to Russia? [01:06] - What does Biden say Putin's larger ambitions in Ukraine are? [02:09] ## Content suitability - war [00:00-02:38]: Coverage of a military invasion and armed conflict in Ukraine. - politics [00:00-02:38]: Presidential remarks on foreign policy, sanctions and military deployments. by [James Stavridis](https://time.com/author/james-stavridis/) ## James Stavridis Feb 23, 2022 11:00 AM UTC When Joe Biden, visibly tired and facing a crisis of generation-defining proportions, walked to the lectern under the chandeliers of the White House East Room on Thursday, he did his best to show resolve about America’s preeminent place in the world order. by [James Stavridis](https://time.com/author/james-stavridis/) ## James Stavridis Feb 23, 2022 11:00 AM UTC Just before I became Supreme Allied Commander at NATO in 2009, Russian President Vladimir Putin invaded Georgia, a small, democratic, former Soviet Republic in the Caucuses. He used a trumped up “incident” and crushed his tiny neighbor, a country with only 3 million citizens. Russia then essentially annexed two small parts of Georgia, South Ossetia and Abkhazia by encouraging them to declare “independence” and then coming to their protection. In 2014, just after I completed four years at NATO, he did it again, this time invading a much larger neighbor, Ukraine, and annexing Crimea. That invasion has led to over 14,000 deaths (and counting) and a virulent insurgency against the Ukrainian government in the [Donbas region](https://time.com/6149966/ukraine-separatist-regions/) of southeast Ukraine. Now, essentially completing the invader’s hat trick, he has [attacked a neighbor](https://time.com/6149895/putin-invasion-ukraine-biden/) for the third time, and has again used the [“independence” route](https://time.com/6144109/russia-ukraine-vladimir-putin-viktor-medvedchuk/) to cobble up a rationale for the invasion. The break-away “republics” of Luhansk and Donetsk are now recognized by Russia, and “peacekeepers” in the form of Russian troops have again invaded a sovereign neighbor. Ian Fleming, the author of the James Bond novels, said once that when someone shoots at you, the first time may be happenstance, the second time coincidence, but the third time is enemy action. It is time for the West to [see Putin for what he is](https://time.com/6140996/putin-ukraine-threats/): a serial violator of national borders who wants to unwind the international order and restore what he can of the old Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. What can the west do to stop him? How do we tear up the Putin playbook? First and most simply, the U.S. and the democratic nations globally must shine a light on the actions of this rogue regime. If a burglar is approaching the house, light up the terrain surrounding it. The Biden Administration has done this well, utilizing massive dumps of intelligence and data, staying a step ahead of the Russians in terms of revealing their plans. **_Read More:_**[_What Putin’s Moves Towards War in Ukraine Reveal_ ](https://time.com/6150002/russia-ukraine-vladimir-putin-war/) Next, and equally simply, the world’s democracies must sanction Putin’s Russia across the spectrum of economic activity: disconnection from the [SWIFT system](https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/26/investing/swift-russia-ukraine/index.html), a ban on dealing with every significant sector of the Russian economy, personal [sanctions](https://time.com/6150204/biden-russia-sanctions-ukraine/) on high ranking government officials, senior military, and especially the oligarch class. These sanctions should include banning international travel to any democratic country. Let them move their yachts from Monte Carlo to a nice slip in the Bander Abas Yacht Club in Iran. There should be nothing but air whistling through the [Nord Stream 2](https://www.cnn.com/2022/02/22/business/nord-stream-2-germany-russia/index.html) pipeline for the foreseeable future, and the Germans are stepping up to ensure that is the case. A third action would be increasing military aid to the Ukrainians. I know their military well, and their soldiers deployed on NATO missions under my command. They are brave and professional, and will fight—especially with their families and neighbors behind them and the Russians ahead of them. There is still time to move significant levels of material (notably anti-air and anti-armor systems) into Ukrainian hands—ship it to L’viv in the far west, which Putin is unlikely to seriously threaten given the vast size of Ukraine. Prepare for the worst case scenarios: the fall of Kyiv and the overthrow of the democratically elected government of Ukraine. This means having an evacuation plan for President Zelensky and his team; a preset fallback position (initially L’viv and then perhaps back further to a NATO capital, say Warsaw or London); construct a rudimentary command and control network to run a credible resistance in the Ukrainian dominated portions of the country; and provide financial support to keep the current Ukrainian embassies and the network of ambassadors at the U.N. and other international organizations functional. Much as Charles de Gaulle continued to carry the flame of France during the Nazi occupation, Ukraine should be afforded a similar opportunity. Outside of the borders of Ukraine, show Putin the steel and determination of NATO. While the alliance isn’t going to go to war in Ukraine, it must strengthen our defenses in the east. Activate the NATO Response Force and deploy it into nations on the Ukrainian and Russian borders; increase the level of intelligence gathered and shared across the alliance; conduct a new round of border defense exercises; deploy NATO’s Standing Naval Task Force into the Black Sea; and aggressively conduct air policing around the borders of the Alliance, especially in the Arctic which Putin values greatly. And it would be a good time to quietly encourage Finland and Sweden—both of whom have powerful, professional, and capable militaries—to join the alliance. Finally, there is a strong case to be made that the battlefield may shift to cyber. Moving tanks, jet fighters, and armored personnel carriers full of troops is expensive, and Putin’s financial reserves, while significant, are not unlimited. But electrons are a “free good” in terms of costs, and he may choose to attack Ukraine directly (especially its electric grid) or even conduct a horizontal escalation against the U.S. and NATO. The U.S. and our partners in cyber must be ready to “go offensive” to stop Putin. This may end up being the most dangerous part of the conflict. The Putin playbook is actually pretty tired and utterly obvious at this point. We know what we need to do, and even with the risk of escalation, we need to muster the will to stop Putin from simply annexing the rest of Ukraine—he will not stop unless he faces real consequences. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"OpinionNewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/6150300/vladimir-putin-russia-ukraine-stop/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/6150300/vladimir-putin-russia-ukraine-stop/"},"headline":"How the West Can Stop Putin","datePublished":"2022-02-23T11:00:40.000Z","dateModified":"2026-10-14T09:32:59.731Z","description":"A former NATO commander on how the U.S. and the West can stand up to Vladimir Putin and halt his aggressive foreign policy","url":"https://time.com/6150300/vladimir-putin-russia-ukraine-stop/","keywords":["russia"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt21b615a0f503c98d/698a22a7b3fce350680c8f6c/GettyImages-1238689525.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"James Stavridis","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/james-stavridis/"}],"articleSection":"Ideas","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt21b615a0f503c98d/698a22a7b3fce350680c8f6c/GettyImages-1238689525.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Presidents of Russia and Azerbaijan meet in Moscow","caption":"Presidents of Russia and Azerbaijan meet in Moscow","creditText":"Sergei Guneyev TASS via Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/section/ideas/","name":"Ideas"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/tag/russia/","name":"russia"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/6150300/vladimir-putin-russia-ukraine-stop/","name":"How the West Can Stop Putin"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Biden Condemns Russia's Invasion of Ukraine","description":"When Joe Biden, visibly tired and facing a crisis of generation-defining proportions, walked to the lectern under the chandeliers of the White House East Room on Thursday, he did his best to show resolve about America’s preeminent place in the world order.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/24khgQIY/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2022-02-24T21:28:00.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/24khgQIY.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/6150300/vladimir-putin-russia-ukraine-stop/","duration":"PT2M38S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/6150300/vladimir-putin-russia-ukraine-stop/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```