EDITORIAL: Biden must move Ukraine and Russia to the bargaining table

The military has a saying, “The enemy gets a vote.” That’s especially true when your adversary has nuclear weapons.

The war between Russia and Ukraine has reached a bit of an impasse. Backed by weapons from the United States and other Western nations, Ukraine has made battlefield gains. But it’s going to be harder to advance during the winter when the ground gets soggy.

Russia also wants to use the winter to erode Ukrainian resolve. It has leveled attacks on Ukrainian energy infrastructure. Kyiv is enduring rolling blackouts. As it gets colder, a lack of reliable energy may have deadly consequences.

Recently, Vladimir Putin claimed that Ukraine is preparing to use a dirty bomb, which is a low-yield nuclear weapon. No evidence backs that absurd claim. But any time Putin references nukes, there’s reason to be concerned.

Morally, this situation is clear-cut. Putin is a tyrant who deserves to be deposed and tried for his crimes. Russian soldiers have committed war crimes. Ukrainians have bravely and heroically resisted Russian aggression.

But the world of foreign policy rarely offers neat and tidy solutions. The war in Ukraine has exposed Russia’s armed forces as second rate. Russia looks likely to become a de facto vassal of China in the near future. The United States could defeat Russia militarily. But President Joe Biden has wisely kept U.S. troops at an arm’s length. That’s because Russia has nuclear weapons.

Late last week, Putin ruled out flexing his nukes on Ukraine. “There is no point in that,” he said, “neither political, nor military.”

Yet taking this dictator at his word is a fool’s errand. Russia’s weaponry must inform U.S. policy, including what the endgame in Ukraine looks like. It has been obvious for months that the Russia-Ukraine stalemate requires some sort of agreement.

“There’s going to have to be a negotiated settlement,” Mr. Biden said back in June. But now the White House is deferring to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy about when to negotiate. That sounds noble. But no Ukrainian politician can tell his countrymen that it’s time to negotiate with an enemy that committed atrocities against it.

It should be obvious how this leads to quagmire. Mr. Biden knows a negotiated settlement is needed to end the war, but says he’s passing the buck to someone who will — understandably — never want to negotiate. Lurking beneath the surface is nuclear conflict.

No doubt, there is back-channel communication involving Europe, the United States, Russia and Ukraine. Sometimes leadership requires making a hard choice because it’s the best of bad options. Ukraine’s survival depends on U.S. weapons. That gives Mr. Biden the leverage to urge Mr. Zelenskyy to work on a peace settlement.