Europeans now understand the mistake they made on energy and are changing their policies. But Mr. Biden refuses to set aside his climate-change obsessions to address this world-changing crisis. His regulators are still targeting U.S. oil and gas production for slow extinction. He will have little credibility in persuading Germans and Italians to make sacrifices if he won’t help them meet their energy needs now and next winter.
It’s hard to resist the conclusion that Mr. Putin has succeeded in intimidating Mr. Biden and other leaders with his threats of nuclear escalation. This concern may justify the decision not to assist Ukraine with a NATO no-fly zone, which could require U.S. planes to attack Russian radars and missile defenses inside Russian territory.
But it shouldn’t be an excuse for caution in doing everything short of that to help Ukrainians defeat Mr. Putin. If the nuclear threat works to stop NATO support now, the Russian will use it in the future against NATO proper. The essence of deterrence is credibility, which means persuading Mr. Putin that his resort to nuclear weapons in Ukraine will be met with a requisite response. The same goes for chemical or biological weapons.
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