The new US President Joe Biden displayed his firmness on Tuesday, January 26, during his first exchange with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin.
He thus "reaffirmed our firm support for the sovereignty of Ukraine in the face of persistent Russian aggression," White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said.
Joe Biden also expressed his "concern" about the "poisoning of Alexey Navalny", the Russian opponent arrested on January 17 upon his return to Russia after a five-month recovery in Germany, as well as " treatment of peaceful demonstrators by Russian security forces ".
He then referred, according to his spokesperson, to the "interference in the 2020 election" in the United States, the recent giant cyberattack against American ministries attributed by Washington to Moscow, and information according to which Russia would have paid "bounties" to the Taliban to kill American soldiers in Afghanistan.
So many subjects minimized by Donald Trump, despite the general indignation they arouse in the American political class.
Low relationships
"President Biden has made it clear that the United States will act decisively to defend our national interests in the face of Russian acts that would harm us or our allies," the White House added in a statement.
As he does regularly, Vladimir Putin for his part said he supported "a normalization of relations between Russia and the United States", which according to him "would meet the interests of both countries but also those of the entire international community, being given their special responsibility in maintaining security and stability in the world, "the Russian presidency reported.
US-Russian relations are at their lowest since the end of the Cold War, despite unsuccessful attempts at rapprochement by former US President Donald Trump.
His successor Joe Biden wants to be much more offensive.
Extension of the New Start treaty
Paradoxically, due to an ultra-tight schedule, this new chapter opens with a desire for dialogue: the New Start nuclear weapons limitation treaty, the last bilateral agreement of this kind, expires in ten days and Washington had announced as early as last week want to extend it.
According to the White House, the two leaders "mentioned the desire of the two countries to extend New Start for five years, and agreed to make their teams work urgently for an extension by February 5".
The Kremlin even referred to an "agreement in principle" in a bill sent to Parliament, after reporting the "exchange" on Tuesday of "diplomatic notes on the extension" accompanied by "vigorous contacts" to renew the treaty "in the interest of both countries, as of the whole world".
"We have reached an agreement with Russia on the fact that we must move quickly to conclude such an agreement by February 5," the US State Department told AFP.
Iranian nuclear
The American Democrat also said he was ready to "consider discussions on strategic stability on a series of issues related to arms control and security."
He stands out on this ground from his Republican predecessor, who had failed to renew New Start - or did not want to do so - and had withdrawn from other treaties.
Donald Trump had notably slammed the door with a crash of the international Iranian nuclear agreement, of which Moscow is one of the signatories.
The subject, on the menu of the phone call, should also be quite consensual, Joe Biden having promised to return to this agreement.
But the modalities risk fueling tensions: Russia has asked the US government to take the first step, while the United States is demanding that Iran be the first to renew its commitments, to which it has agreed. partially franked.
With AFP
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