Amid Vladimir Putin’s inhumane assault on Ukraine, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky challenged U.S. President Joe Biden to be “the leader of the world” in a speech to Congress last week.

Zelensky’s call to President Biden underscores an important truth: this conflict is much bigger than Russia versus Ukraine. Putin’s war is characteristic of the undying struggle for independence, human rights, and freedom worldwide; and is one battle within a broader global war between democracy versus autocracy.

Given the magnitude of this conflict, is incumbent on President Biden to truly lead – by advocating for a more forceful defense of democratic values in Ukraine and by making it clear to Putin that no options are off the table if, as I fear, the Kremlin resorts to more destructive forms of warfare.

Regrettably, America—once the standard-bearer of democracy—has been passively, rather than actively, defending global democracy for the last decade. We cannot afford to take this posture with Ukraine.

The Obama Administration’s inaction in the face of the Assad regime’s use of chemical warfare in Syria badly damaged America’s international credibility. Further, Donald Trump’s isolationist foreign policy upset our relationships with NATO allies, and his deference to Putin sewed divisions internally and gave the impression externally that America’s democracy was on the decline.

More recently, the chaotic withdrawal of U.S. forces from Afghanistan, which occurred under the Biden Administration, was an embarrassing fiasco that our adversaries used to paint America as a weak and unreliable international partner, and to discredit our broader efforts to spread democracy globally.

That being said, President Biden deserves mostly credit for his leadership throughout this crisis in Ukraine. He has rallied Europe around crushing sanctions against Russia, banned imports of Russian oil, and sent billions of dollars in military aid to Ukraine. However, there is more to be done.

This week, the president is heading to Europe for a series of emergency summits with world leaders with the intent of finalizing new measures to punish Putin, aid Ukraine, and demonstrate Western unity.

Though the Western sanctions against Russia and the support provided to Ukraine have been far-reaching – and were absolutely necessary – a stark reality looms over President Biden’s trip: that these actions have made Putin desperate, rather than deterred. President Biden recently warned that Putin’s “back is against the wall,” and could resort to the use of chemical weapons in Ukraine.

Make no mistake: Vladimir Putin is a rogue and ruthless dictator who will keep fighting no matter the cost – as evidenced by his killing of innocent civilians, including children – and the West needs to treat him as such.

Ultimately, the time has come for President Biden to draw a ‘red-line’ for the Kremlin, making it known to Putin that all options are on the table if he deploys chemical or nuclear weapons against Ukraine.

Put another way, President Biden needs to stop telling Putin what the U.S. and NATO will not do, and make clear that we will not stand for the use of weapons of mass destruction against innocent civilians.

Thus far, Biden has repeatedly and definitely made clear that the U.S., as the leader of NATO, won’t involve itself militaristically beyond NATO’s boundaries – a pledge that has likely reassured Putin.

At the same time, Europe is highly dependent on Russian oil, the country’s most lucrative sector. While the European Union has banned investments in Russia’s energy sector, an oil embargo at this point – which would completely tank the Russian economy – is unlikely. The U.S, which took the important step of banning imports of Russian oil, is not as reliant on this commodity as countries like Germany.

Of course, imposing a ‘red line’ carries serious risks. And understandably, President Biden’s calculus is to proceed with caution when it comes to pledging U.S. forces, especially given the domestic and international humiliation he faced following the Afghanistan debacle.

Related Articles

However, at this stage in the war, it’s clear that not doing so could have far worse consequences.

President Biden cannot afford to make the same mistake as the president he served under. The Obama Administration’s anemic response to the use of chemical weapons in Syria by the Assad regime – despite drawing an alleged ‘red line’ – was one of the many missteps by the U.S. over the last 15 years that emboldened Putin to annex Crimea in 2014, enter Syria conflict in 2015, and invade Ukraine in 2022.

Drawing a ‘red line’ now is critical – not only to save Ukrainian lives, but to show that the U.S. and the West will not tolerate rogue dictators like Putin who believe they can destabilize, terrorize, and lay claim to sovereign countries.

If the United States fails to make this clear to Putin, the Ukrainian people will continue to suffer immensely, and powerful rogue states like China and Iran will be emboldened by this inaction – jeopardizing human rights, freedoms, and democracy everywhere.

Douglas Schoen is a political consultant.