“We talked about the various strategic challenges from Russia and China that we will face and the reforms that we need to carry out so that we are in the strongest possible position to meet these challenges,” he said.

This includes modernizing US defense priorities, he said.

Earlier, Biden stated that he intends to adhere to a multilateral approach in policy towards Russia, Iran and China.

On December 17, Russian leader Vladimir Putin told reporters after an annual press conference that relations between Russia and the United States under Biden’s presidency would depend on the actions of the new American administration.