January 26th, local time, the new U.S. President Biden and Russian President Putin talked on the phone for the first time. Putin congratulated Biden on his assumption of the presidency of the United States.
The two sides discussed bilateral relations between the United States and Russia and global hot issues, and agreed to extend the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, which is expected to complete the necessary procedures in the next few days.
Combining the news from the website of the Russian President and the website of the White House of the United States, Putin pointed out on the call that the normalization of U.S.-Russian relations is in the common interest of the two countries and the international community;
Biden reiterated the position of the United States on international issues, declaring that the United States will resolutely defend national interests in response to Russia’s “targeting the United States and its allies Action”. Both sides agreed to continue to maintain transparent contacts.
The Associated Press pointed out that Biden obviously took a tough attitude during the call, and some officials familiar with the matter also revealed that Biden threatened to “take action” against Russia.
This shows that the United States under Biden has no intention to improve U.S.-Russia relations, but tends to “control the differences between the two countries” while maintaining current U.S.-Russia tensions.
Putin: Normalization of US-Russia relations is in the interests of the two countries
Russian media noted that the two sides have made great progress in extending the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty.” Russia Today” pointed out that the position of the new Biden administration on the agreement is obviously different from that of the Trump administration, which is reluctant to extend the agreement.
According to the report, the United States and Russia have reached an agreement to extend the agreement, and the exchange of relevant diplomatic notes has been completed, and the leaders of both countries are satisfied with the result.
It is expected that the two sides will finalize the necessary procedures within a few days to ensure that the agreement continues to work.
Kosachev, Chairman of the International Affairs Committee of the Russian Federation Commission, also told RTAs that it is expected that the Russian Federation Council will soon vote to adopt the decision to extend the agreement at its meeting on the 27th local time.
The New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, signed in 2010 and entered into force on February 5, 2011, aims to reduce and limit the number of nuclear weapons between the United States and Russia.
It will expire in February this year. If the two parties agree on the extension agreement, the term can be extended for another five years to 2026.
In this call, Putin mentioned the option of normalizing bilateral relations between the United States and Russia. He stressed to Biden that normalizing US-Russian relations is in the interests of both countries, considering their role in maintaining global stability and security, which is also beneficial to the entire international community.
However, the Russian satellite news agency also pointed out that Putin has repeatedly expressed his will to the United States to improve relations, but so far the U.S. government has not shown such intention.
In addition, Putin also discussed with Biden the possibility of cooperation in the fight against the coronavirus epidemic and in the economic and trade fields.
Biden has a tough attitude and threatens sanctions.
Unlike Putin’s attitude of advocating better relations between the two countries, Biden expressed a tough stance towards Russia in the call, declaring that the United States will resolutely defend national interests and “in response to Russia’s actions that harm the United States and its allies”.
The Associated Press reported that although Biden and Putin agreed to work together to extend the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty and Biden was willing to establish a cooperative relationship with Putin on this issue, Biden has not changed his position on controversial issues such as “Russian interference in the U.S. election” and Russian villain Navaline, claiming that the United States is This “expressed concern”.
Several Biden administration officials revealed that Biden also threatened to take “self-defense action” on the phone, which may include imposing “further sanctions” on Moscow. CNN quoted sources as saying that Biden has instructed government agencies to review Russia-related issues and possible new “sanctions”.
Some of the actions Biden has taken also seem to confirm his statement. An anonymous person familiar with the matter said that before the call, Biden held talks with leaders of the United Kingdom, France, Germany and other European countries, during which issues related to Russia were discussed.
He also volunteered to call NATO Secretary-General Stoltenberg to reiterate NATO’s “collective defense” clause.
CNN pointed out that considering that NATO also has the “function” to confront Russia, Biden’s move is obviously indicative.
According to the analysis of the Associated Press, the details of the call mean that the new Biden administration has no intention to improve the relationship between the United States and Russia, but prefers to control the differences between the two countries while maintaining the current relationship between the United States and Russia, and the two sides remain cautious on major issues.
In addition, Biden is unlikely to confront Russia directly because of the variety of agendas facing the United States.
Therefore, the U.S. media believes that at least in the early days of Biden’s administration, the guidelines for the relationship between the United States and Russia should be biased towards “not expanding the conflict, but not rushing to repair the damage”.
