Biden, Putin hold first telephonic conversation

US President Joe Biden and Russian leader Vladimir Putin held their first conversation as counterparts on Tuesday in a phone call that underscored troubled relations and the delicate balance between the former Cold War foes.

According to the White House, Biden raised concerns about the arrest of opposition figure Alexei Navalny, Russia’s alleged involvement in a massive cyber-espionage campaign and reports of Russian bounties on American troops in Afghanistan. The Kremlin, meanwhile, focused on Putin’s response to Biden’s proposal to extend the last remaining US-Russia arms control treaty.

While the readouts from the two capitals emphasised different elements, they both suggested that US-Russia relations will be guided, at least at the beginning of the Biden administration, by a desire to do no harm but also no urgency to repair existing damage.

The two presidents agreed to have their teams work urgently to complete a five-year extension of the New START nuclear weapons treaty that expires next month. Former President Donald Trump’s administration had withdrawn from two arms control treaties with Russia and had been prepared to let New START lapse.

Unlike his immediate predecessors — including Trump, who was enamoured of Putin and frequently undercut his own administration’s tough stance on Russia — Biden has not held out hope for a “reset” in relations. Instead he has indicated he wants to manage differences without necessarily resolving them or improving ties.

And with a heavy domestic agenda and looming decisions needed on Iran and China, a direct confrontation with Russia is not likely something Biden seeks.

Although the leaders agreed to work together to extend New START before it expires on February 5 and to look at other areas of potential strategic cooperation, the White House said Biden was firm on US support for Ukraine’s sovereignty, while Russia is supporting separatists in the country’s east.

Biden also raised the SolarWinds cyberhack, which has been attributed to Russia, reports of Russian bounties on American soldiers in Afghanistan, interference in the 2020 US election, the poisoning of Navalny and the weekend crackdown on Navalny’s supporters.

“President Biden made clear that the United States will act firmly in defence of its national interests in response to actions by Russia that harm us or our allies,” the White House said. Biden told Putin in the phone call that the US would defend itself and take action, which could include further sanctions, to ensure Moscow does not act with impunity, officials said.

Moscow had reached out last week to request the call, according to US officials familiar with the matter but not authorised to discuss it publicly. Biden agreed, but he wanted first to prepare with his staff and speak with European allies, including the leaders of Britain, France and Germany, which he did.

Before he spoke to Putin, Biden also called Nato chief Jens Stoltenberg to pledge US commitment to the decades-old alliance founded as a bulwark against Russian aggression.

The Kremlin’s readout of the call did not address the most contentious issues between the countries, though it said the leaders also discussed other “acute issues on the bilateral and international agenda”.

It described the talk as “frank and businesslike” — often a diplomatic way of referring to tense discussions. It also said Putin congratulated Biden on becoming president and “noted that normalisation of ties between Russia and the United States would serve the interests of both countries”.

Among the issues the Kremlin said were discussed were the coronavirus pandemic, the Iran nuclear agreement, Ukraine and issues related to trade and the economy.

The call came as Putin considers the aftermath of pro-Navalny protests that took place in more than 100 Russian cities over the weekend. Biden’s team has already reacted strongly to the crackdown on the protests, in which more than 3,700 people were arrested across Russia, including more than 1,400 in Moscow. More protests are planned for the coming weekend.

Navalny, an anti-corruption campaigner and Putin’s best-known critic, was arrested on January 17 as he returned to Russia from Germany, where he had spent nearly five months recovering from nerve-agent poisoning that he blames on the Kremlin. Biden has previously condemned the use of chemical weapons.

Russian authorities deny the accusations.

Just from the public accounts, Biden’s discussion with Putin appeared diametrically opposed to Trump’s relationship with the Russian president.

Trump had seemed to seek Putin’s approval, frequently casting doubt on Russian interference in the 2016 elections, including when he stood next to Putin at their 2018 summit in Helsinki. He also downplayed Russia’s involvement in the hack of federal government agencies last year and the allegations that Russia offered the Taliban bounties.

Still, despite that conciliatory approach, Trump’s administration toed a tough line against Moscow, imposing sanctions on the country, Russian companies and business leaders for issues including Ukraine, energy supplies and attacks on dissidents.

Biden, in his call with Putin, broke sharply with Trump by declaring that he knew that Russia attempted to interfere with both the 2016 and 2020 US elections.

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