(CNN) President Joe Biden is confronting a series of distinct but interlocking global crises and hotspots with US foes lining up to test the mettle of an under-pressure leader and their own sense that the United States is a retreating global power. And foreign leaders understand domestic US politics too. Some foreign leaders might look at events in Washington on Monday and wonder whether the stress is beginning to weigh on the President. The Russian leader's timing is no accident as he tries to probe divisions between European powers internally and with the United States over the crisis. "I had a very, very, very good meeting -- total unanimity with all the European leaders," Biden told reporters afterward.

Source: CNN January 26, 2022 01:33 UTC