On Wednesday evening, as RedState reported, Russia finally launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. That came on the heels of several days of incremental moves, with Vladimir Putin speaking publicly numerous times, attempting to make his case for war.

As the tanks rolled across the border and the airstrikes commenced, Joe Biden was nowhere to be found. All the White House could muster was a written statement noting that Biden would not speak until the afternoon of the next day. It was an astonishing moment of weakness, with the president seeming to be unable to even address the public, as Europe was being invaded.

Regardless, Biden did eventually emerge to give a press conference on the matter. In it, he outlined the implementation of more sanctions, including those targeting four Russian banks, and technology imports into Russia.

Biden announces the U.S. has sanctioned more Russian banks, including its largest "that holds more than one-third of Russia's banking assets," its "largest state-owned enterprises," and add "names to the list of Russian elites and their family members that were sanctioned." pic.twitter.com/qNfx0qYiju

— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) February 24, 2022

But while Biden’s remarks were long on rhetoric, including another pointless threat to cut Putin out of the international community (as if he cares), they were short on specifics that could actually deter Russia. China is already upping Russian imports, and Putin has spent years insulating his country from the effects of largely marginal economic sanctions.

The question remains if a full-scale invasion of Ukraine isn’t enough to trigger the worst sanctions, including disconnecting Russia from the SWIFT system, then what is? Biden continues to not have an answer for them. When he was pressed on the lack of further action, the president insisted his sanctions package exceeded any possible action using the SWIFT system, but he provided no evidence of that.

At another point, Biden chose to threaten US energy companies, warning them not to price gouge. Yet, that ignores that the global cost of oil is skyrocketing — and was skyrocketing long before Russia made its move into Ukraine. Further, the president’s words come across as deflecting from the fact that his administration has crushed domestic energy production for no logical reason whatsoever, handing Putin leverage he did not have under the Trump administration.

Biden did eventually take several questions, all of which were fairly combative given the situation. Most of them addressed the issues I laid out above.

ABC's @CeciliaVega to Biden: "Sanctions clearly have not been enough to deter Vladimir Putin…What is going to stop him? How and when does this end? And do you see him trying to go beyond Ukraine? And…is he threatening a nuclear strike?" pic.twitter.com/xpc2cNFAiW

— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) February 24, 2022

The president wrapped up his press conference and exited, having done little to offer any real clarity about what is to come. He also failed to address a series of relevant questions, including why he lifted sanctions on the Russians in the first place. The sanctions now going into place appear to have been dictated by the Germans, and there’s little reason to believe they will deter Putin.

When pressed on why things will be different this time, all Biden was unwilling or unable to actually explain why his plan is strategically sound. That’s going to leave Americans feeling as if they are in the dark, even as they are being asked to shoulder higher energy costs. At the same time, the administration refuses to do anything domestically to ease that pain. That won’t be lost on voters as we head towards the midterms, and while Biden may get a short-term boost, there’s no reason to believe it lasts.