Instead of antagonizing him
The Biden administration is asked to co-opt Putin to address foreign policy issues
Nuclear weapons is one of the thorny problems between America and Russia.
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Biden and Putin when the first was Vice President of the US and the other was Prime Minister of Russia.
Reuters
Friendship or interest brought together between Trump and Putin?
Reuters
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With the departure of former US President Donald Trump from the White House, observers of the complex conflict between America and Russia can breathe a sigh of relief. From the moment Russian President Vladimir Putin described Trump as the 2016 Republican presidential candidate, it has become certain that Moscow looks to Washington from Through the lens of politics and scandal.
This does not mean that President Joe Biden may not allow Russia to play the same game again.
Administrations may come and go, but the geopolitical challenge facing the United States from the Kremlin leader remains constant, it seems.
The relationship is at an all time low
Let's start with the obvious. Relations between the United States and Russia are at their lowest levels since the end of the Cold War, and US agencies are still looking into the implications of the massive cyber breach that they blamed on Moscow.
Western governments are calling on the Kremlin for responses to the poisoning of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny.
The United States steadily escalated sanctions against Russia over the war in Ukraine and its interference in the 2016 US presidential elections. As one of his first steps, Biden ordered a comprehensive intelligence review of suspected damage caused by Russia, starting with the alleged rewards it provided to the Taliban. To kill American forces in Afghanistan, leading to interference in the US presidential elections 2020. Avril Haines, Director of National Intelligence in the Biden administration, will lead these efforts.
Biden appears to have been lucky in choosing the veteran diplomat and expert on Russian affairs, William Burns, as director of the Central Intelligence Agency.
But Russia - the country with a nuclear arsenal to rival the United States - cannot simply be put in the box.
Policy experts generally agree that the Russian government must play a role in responding to major global crises, from curbing Iran's nuclear ambitions, to stopping the short and bloody war between Armenia and Azerbaijan, and this means that the Biden administration must deal with Putin in order to address a group of Foreign policy issues, especially the proposed return to the 2015 Iran nuclear deal. Russia is a party to the deal that Trump abandoned in 2018. Even some of Putin's most outspoken critics in the United States, such as the former US ambassador to Russia, Michael McFall, acknowledge that the states should The United States selectively engages Russia on pressing global issues, such as the response to the pandemic and climate change, but Biden's policy is not expected to be described as a "reset", as this is an inappropriate word in Washington when it comes to dealing with Russia's policy.
In 2009, then Secretary of State Hillary Clinton presented a red "reset" button to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Geneva, as an American symbolic gesture to re-energize relations with Russia, but that gift attracted malicious smiles and sarcasm, as "reset" was translated into the language. Russian is "overloaded."
Things are going from bad to worse
Things have gone from bad to worse. After Russia’s parliamentary elections in 2011 were marred by allegations of widespread fraud, Putin blamed Clinton for promoting “foreign interference” in Russia, as protesters took to the streets.
In 2014, Russia annexed Crimea and supported the separatist conflict in eastern Ukraine, which led to an escalation of the confrontation with the West.
Then that embarrassing behavior was for Trump at the 2018 summit meeting with Putin in Helsinki, where the US president at the time stood by the Kremlin leader, saying that he “saw no reason why” Russia was responsible for interfering in the 2016 presidential elections. And it seems that there is a reluctance consensus. In Washington, the current cooperation with Russia will not succeed.
But back in August, the group of US foreign policy experts signed an open letter calling for a "rethink" of US policy toward Russia.
"It makes no sense for two countries to destroy each other, within 30 minutes, for civilization to end due to their lack of power," said the letter, signed (among others) by Trump's former advisor on Russian affairs, Fiona Hill, and his former ambassador to Moscow, John Huntsman. Diplomatic relations are fully functional ».
Re-Set
This open letter elicited a response from a more hawkish group of former diplomats, military and intelligence specialists, and other experts who argued that Putin's corrupt regime should be severely restricted.
The signatories responded to the first message that they are not seeking to "reset" with Russia, but rather simply to assess Russia's policy.
However, the two groups agree that the United States needs to work with Russia on arms control.
One of the first issues the Biden presidency will face is the expiration of the new 2010 Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty on February 5th, the latest treaty limiting the US and Russian nuclear arsenals.
White House Press Secretary Jane Psaki told reporters on Thursday that the new administration is ready to work with Russia to extend the treaty.
Armament control is a technical and unexciting act, and it requires a great deal of patience and diplomacy, but it is absolutely necessary, as trust between the United States and Russia has evaporated, and the countries have abandoned agreements aimed at reducing the risks of miscalculated military calculations that destroy the world, but the issue on which the debate rests Concerning US-Russian relations is an issue of Russian domestic politics.
The poisoning of opposition leader Alexei Navalny in August sparked a debate about how to deal with Russia, and the controversy spilled over into the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 elections. Navalny finally added to the turmoil with his dramatic return to Russia, and two days after his arrest, he launched the investigation team. His investigation has been extensively investigated online into Putin's alleged personal fortune.
Biden's national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, called for Navalny's release, after his arrest upon his arrival in Moscow.
"Navalny must be released immediately, and the perpetrators of the heinous attack on his life must be held accountable," Sullivan said on Twitter. "The Kremlin's attacks on Navalny are not just a violation of human rights, but an insult to the Russian people who want their voices to be heard."
Control over state resources
Putin controls all state resources and has a formidable security apparatus that can stifle domestic political opposition.
But Navalny seems to be betting that "Putinism", in reference to the Putin era, is approaching old age. Putin has become an old, isolated leader, far from the people.
The street protests seem unlikely to topple Putin, but the domestic political opposition appears to have received a major boost from Navalny's willingness to return from abroad and roll the dice.
We should not believe that Navalny is a traditional Western liberal. This anti-corruption activist has a bent of populism and Russian nationalism in his politics and has demonstrated a practical willingness to ally with more flexible and generally pro-government parties to challenge Putin's rule, such as United Russia in local elections.
He even criticized Twitter's decision to ban Trump, describing it as an "unacceptable censorship act."
As Navalin's moves reflect, deciding who wins or loses in Russia is a matter for the Russians themselves.
The US foreign policy group of experts signed last August
An open letter calls for a "rethink" of US policy
Towards Russia. "It makes no sense for two states to destroy," the letter said
Each other, within 30 minutes, to end civilization because of their lack of diplomatic relations fully functional ».
Relations between the United States and Russia are at their lowest level since the end of the Cold War.
- Russia - the country
that has an arsenal
Nuclear Rivalry with the United States - It simply cannot be set
In the penalty area. Policy experts generally agree
That the Russian government should play a role in responding to major global crises, from curbing Iran's nuclear ambitions, to stopping the short and bloody war between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
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