Calling President Vladimir Putin a "ruthless pragmatist" and the Russian leadership "corrupt," Bush vowed that the United States would reassert itself in Europe to combat "Russian aggression" in Ukraine and bring "Russian behavior" into line in order to "preserve the fundamental principles of our international order."
"Who can doubt that Russia will do what it pleases if its aggression goes unanswered?" railed Bush, disingenuously adding that combating Russia should not be done in a way that pushes Russia and ordinary Russians "away for a generation of time."
Bush tugged at his Berlin audience's heartstrings, saying that the city was a "reminder for the ages that freedom cannot be walled off," and invoking Ronald Reagan's call to Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev to "tear down this wall." Bush also recalled his father George H.W. Bush's role in Germany's reunification, and called him "the greatest man alive."
Appealing to the US-German military partnership under NATO, Bush noted that the US "has to lead, and we have to do it in partnership with our allies." The former governor also criticized what he said was a dramatic decline in US military spending, saying that cuts had undermined the country's credibility among its European partners. It's worth pointing out that the US military budget has grown over the past two years, and presently stands at $637 billion, more than the spending of most of the rest of the world combined.
Bush was careful to avoid bringing up his brother, George W. Bush, whose tenure German business weekly Wirtschaftswoche said has made the Bush family name associated with "loutishness and amateurism, as well as for a world where might makes right."
Gazeta.ru columnist Alexandr Bratersky noted that "it was no accident that Germany became the first country Bush visited as a possible presidential candidate. His brother's relations with this informal leader of the EU were not the best, putting it mildly. With Gerhard Schroder in the chancellery, Berlin joined Paris in actively opposing the war in Iraq, thus taking a position closer to Moscow than to Washington. However, the situation has changed today, with Chancellor Merkel showing full solidarity with the US on the issue of Ukraine. It is important for Bush to establish contact with her. Barring the unforeseeable, she will be in charge of the country for at least a year after the US elects a new president."
Bush advisor Kenneth Juster told the New York Times that the need to "confront" Russia and Putin would be a recurring talking point in Bush's five-day, three-leg trip, set to take him next to Poland, and Estonia, two of the European Union's most vocal anti-Russian states.
Buzzfeed political commentator McKay Coppins argued that Bush's aggressive rhetoric is practically a must if he wants a shot at the Republican nomination. "To win the GOP nomination these days, strong opposition to the Russian president is practically a prerequisite," Coppins noted. In his view, "Bush has not yet distinguished himself as a true Russia hawk when compared to a field of GOP rivals like Sens. Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio, who regularly turn up on cable news and talk radio to rail against Russian aggression." Coppins added that "if all goes according to plan, Jeb Bush will end this week with a superlative worthy of a campaign bumper sticker: Vladimir Putin's least favorite republican."
Commenting on the behind the scenes struggle among Jeb Bush's foreign policy team, America watcher Boris Mezhuev told Russian newspaper Vzglyad that the tough rhetoric on Russia is part of an effort to quell internal contradictions in the Bush camp. "The fact is that the Bush clan is very much split between the so-called realist camp and the neoconservatives. This contradiction is very significant, and has a very important role when it comes to the financing of the campaign." Aggressive campaign rhetoric aside, Russian US politics experts remain divided about which camp Jeb Bush actually belongs to, and what it will all mean for relations with Russia should he win the presidency.
Bush is expected to officially announce his intention to make a bid for the White House on June 15.
