White House Leaving Ukraine Crisis Up to Biden -- By Bridget Johnson, PJ Media

The last noted conversation between President Obama and President Yanukovych happened nearly two years ago.

WASHINGTON — Ukraine took a steep step toward total chaos Tuesday as the government attempted to forcefully clear Kiev’s main square of a three-month-long protest, resulting in at least 19 reported deaths.

Twitter was bursting with live reports of the mayhem and pictures of protesters’ bloodied faces. Heavyweight boxing champ and parliamentary opposition leader Vitali Klitschko urged foes of the Viktor Yanukovych regime to stay in the square, and the numbers not only stayed consistent but swelled. Though Klitschko urged women and children to leave the square when it became apparent that Yanukovych was orchestrating an offensive against the demonstrators, reports from the scene included elderly women calling police “killers” and challenging them to shoot. Protesters erected a fire barricade to help keep the police at bay as anthems filled the smoky air in a scene reminiscent of the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests. Government snipers aiming at protesters from the rooftops were supplied by Russia, said the opposition, while Yanukovych forces claimed they were sent by NATO.

Eyes turned toward Washington for statements on the events, forceful words for Yanukovych or perhaps even a threat of sanctions. But throughout the months-long ordeal, those communications have not been coming from the commander in chief.

The White House handed off the crisis to Vice President Joe Biden some time ago, with the last discussion released by the press office between President Obama and Yanukovych happening on March 27, 2012. There’s no indication of the two leaders speaking since.

That 2012 discussion was at the Nuclear Security Summit in Seoul, South Korea. According to a readout from the White House, Obama “raised U.S. concerns about selective prosecutions of the political opposition.”

Since then, Ukraine’s president has dealt with America’s No. 2. In November 2012, Biden thanked Yanukovych for his congratulations on their ticket’s re-election and “urged Ukraine to live up to its democratic commitments and end selective prosecutions.” In November 2013, Biden called Yanukovych to express “his disappointment in the Ukrainian government’s decision to delay preparations for signature of an Association Agreement and Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement with the EU,” a decision to pull back from Europe and toward Moscow that sparked the protests.

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