President Joe Biden had his first connection with Russian President Vladimir Putin since taking office – and immediately raised several important points of contention between the US and Russia that his predecessor, former President Donald Trump, famously refused to address.
During a meeting on Tuesday, White House press secretary Jen Psaki presented a summary of the afternoon’s conference call between the two leaders. Based on the litany of topics she conveyed, it appears that Biden criticized Putin in what was certainly an unpleasant conversation.
Biden pressured Putin on the poisoning of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, which many suspect was an assassination attempt ordered by the Kremlin, as well as the government’s arrest of hundreds of protesters who demonstrated in support of Navalny last weekend.
Early Tuesday, the United States and six other G7 nations issued a statement condemning the Kremlin for poisoning, cracking down on protest and detaining Navalny last week on apparently false charges.
During the conference call, Biden also stated the United States’ support for Ukraine’s sovereignty, which has been threatened since Russia invaded the country in 2014. During his confirmation hearing for Secretary of State last week, Antony Blinken told the Relations Committee Senate outsiders that the Biden government would continue to support Kiev with lethal aid.
Biden also raised three important issues related to Moscow’s belligerence towards the United States: Russia’s interference in the 2020 elections; its alleged hacking links to dozens of US government agencies and Fortune 500 companies by infiltrating the SolarWinds software; and reports that Russia offered cash rewards to Afghan militants to kill American troops in Afghanistan.
If it appears that Biden was trying to stand firm against Putin, it is because he was, his team told reporters. “His intention was also to make it clear that the United States will act strongly in the defense of our national interests in response to Russia’s evil actions,” said Psaki, before the White House released a summary of the summons.
In general, a phone call between US and Russian leaders may be worth noting due to tensions between countries. But in this case, the conversation stands out for being different in both substance and tone as Trump routinely spoke to Putin during his presidency – with deference and praise.
“Finally, we have a president who will face Putin on the real issues at hand,” said Alina Polyakova, president of the Center for European Policy Analysis in Washington. “This was the wish list for everything that should have been discussed in the past four years, but it was not.”
Biden’s connection with Putin represents a major break with the Trump years
Given chance after chance, Trump failed to confront Putin in Russia’s many aggressions against the United States, and more often than not he sought to insinuate himself with his counterpart.
Despite clear evidence that the Kremlin interfered in the 2016 and 2020 elections, Trump called these charges “farce” in order to delegitimize his presidential and administration victory. And at several meetings with Putin, Trump seemed to accept the Russian president’s denials that the Kremlin had meddled in America’s democratic process.
In early 2018, Trump’s advisers told him not to congratulate Putin on his re-election as president of Russia during a call. But Trump did it anyway, ignoring a capital note “DO NOT CONGRATULATE” and the fact that Russia does not hold free and fair elections. Furthermore, Trump ignored the talking points to condemn the poisoning by Russia of a former Kremlin spy who lived in the United Kingdom.
After the SolarWinds hack, Trump refused to even mention it or make a statement. When he had to discuss the issue, he made sure not to blame Russia and told advisers that China was behind it all. Trump also refused to condemn the Kremlin for Navalny’s poisoning.
There are more examples, but that is the idea. And while the government opposed the Kremlin wherever possible – for example, defending electoral infrastructure against hacks and sanctioning key members of the regime – much of this happened against Trump’s will, not because of them.
In addition, Trump approved the sale of anti-tank weapons to Ukraine in 2017 to help the country defend itself against Russia, a move the Obama administration refused to take. Trump also denied this aid to try to pressure the Ukrainian president to investigate Biden’s family.
So it’s safe to say that the Biden-Putin call doesn’t just set a new tone. It indicates a new era in US-Russia relations, in which the President of the United States will truly defend his country and its values against Russia’s strong man.
“This is how a president affirms the interests and values of the United States,” Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA), who led the first impeachment case against Trump and chairs the House Intelligence Committee, tweeted after the call.