Relations between Russia and the United States should be stable and predictable, countries should have opportunities for cooperation in areas of interest to them.

This was stated by US President Joe Biden, commenting on his talks with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on June 16.

“I made it clear to President (Vladimir) Putin in Russia that relations with America must be stable and predictable, we must be able to cooperate where we have interests - on nuclear nonproliferation and climate change,” TASS quotes Biden said during a videoconferencing event of the Democratic National Committee of the United States of America for fundraising.

The head of the White House commented on the contradictions between the United States and Russia.

The politician said he would take retaliatory measures in connection with possible "cyberattacks or interference in the US economy".

“And I know we will respond to concrete actions that are detrimental to American interests,” Biden added.

  • Joe Biden

  • Reuters

  • © Kevin Lamarque

The head of the State Department, Anthony Blinken, also spoke about Russian-American relations.

In an interview with the Italian newspaper La Repubblica, he said that Washington is counting on more stable ties with Russia.

The head of the State Department recalled that the US President had previously discussed this issue with his Russian counterpart.

“President Biden told President Putin that we would prefer a more stable and predictable relationship between the United States and Russia, and that is our core principle.

At the same time, we have opportunities for cooperation in areas of common interest, on certain issues, such as strategic stability, arms control, and cyberspace, ”said Blinken.

There are also regional problems, the joint solution of which may also be of interest to both sides, the head of the State Department added.

“We would prefer this approach.

But if Russia plans to continue to take thoughtless and aggressive actions, then we will react - not in order to incite conflict or escalation, but to protect our interests and values, "he stressed, adding that" in fact, the choice is with Russia. "

As Pavel Feldman, Deputy Director of the Institute for Strategic Studies and Forecasts of the RUDN University, noted in a commentary to RT, Washington's talks about building predictable relations with Russia indicate more likely that confrontation between the United States and Russia remains, rather than a decrease in contradictions.

“After the US elections, the team of experts who will oversee the Russian direction in Washington changed, and they, returning to the rhetoric of the Cold War times, advocate predictability, clarity and stability.

Because in the 60s and 70s of the last century, relations between the United States and the Soviet Union were also understandable and quite predictable, but at the same time remained confrontational.

Now we are returning to confrontation, but a clear confrontation, confrontation, within which some tragic dangerous accidents are impossible, and the confrontation is conducted according to certain rules, "Feldman explained.

According to him, the task now is to develop rules, "red lines", beyond which both sides agree not to go.

“And in a sense, this is a step towards a civilized, predictable dialogue and freezing of conflicts that have developed in recent years,” the expert added.

Andrei Sidorov, head of the Department of International Organizations and World Political Processes at the Faculty of World Politics at Moscow State University, shares a slightly different point of view.

“Washington understands the importance of a dialogue with Moscow on a number of issues.

First of all, on the topic of strategic stability.

In addition, the American authorities today regard China as a key adversary, so they want to focus on this very area.

With Russia, the American side would like to achieve a certain balance, "the expert said in an interview with RT.

New McCarthyism

At the same time, it is the Democratic Party, which came to power in the United States in early 2021, that is the key culprit in the collapse of Russian-American relations, experts say.

“When Republican Trump was President of the United States, the Democrats whipped up anti-Russian hysteria, constantly introducing the issue of“ Russian interference ”into the American domestic political agenda.

The top of the Democratic Party first damaged Russian-American relations, and now the Democratic politicians want to build stable relations with Russia.

Joe Biden is now a hostage to his own pre-election rhetoric, but he will have to somehow get out of this situation, ”explained Pavel Feldman.

At the same time, the American political elite does not realize that it was its actions that caused instability in bilateral relations, the expert said.

  • 2016 U.S. presidential election

  • Reuters

  • © Mario Anzuoni

“Because in America the pre-election war is waged without any rules at all.

It is believed that within the framework of this struggle, any statements, the most odious and most provocative, can be made, the main thing is victory.

And when they are in power and when it is necessary to make informed and responsible decisions, the policy changes radically and pragmatism comes to the fore.

In addition, the United States never admits its guilt for any geopolitical mistakes, but blames other countries for all crises and problems, ”Feldman added.

Let us remind you that at the suggestion of the Democratic Party, Moscow was credited with "interference" in the American electoral process.

The first statements of this kind began to sound back in 2016, after the correspondence of the Democratic Party leadership was published on the WikiLeaks website.

From the materials, it became clear that during the party primaries, the National Committee of the party supported Hillary Clinton's candidacy as opposed to another candidate, Senator Bernie Sanders.

In response to this revelation, Clinton accused Russia of trying to interfere in the American elections.

Allegedly, the party mail was hacked by Russian hackers in order to influence the outcome of the vote in the United States.

At the same time, WikiLeaks referred to insiders within the Democratic Party itself when publishing.

The Democrats did not confine themselves to accusations against Moscow.

For several years, they have argued that Russia allegedly helped Republican Donald Trump win the 2016 election.

The charges even prompted an official investigation led by Special Prosecutor Robert Mueller.

The results of the investigation were published in April 2019.

The authors of the report concluded that Donald Trump and members of his campaign team were not involved in collusion with Russia.

At the same time, the "charges" were not dropped from Moscow - the document claims that the Russian authorities allegedly interfered in the 2016 American elections.

Democrats and a number of American media did not stop at these accusations.

A few months before the new presidential elections, in June 2020, The New York Times, citing anonymous sources in the US intelligence, reported that Russia had allegedly offered rewards to the Afghan Taliban * for attacks on the American military in Afghanistan.

According to journalists, Donald Trump was notified of this, but did not take any action.

  • Riots on January 6, 2021 in Washington DC

  • Reuters

  • © Leah Millis

Commenting on the publication, the Pentagon said that it has no confirmation of a "conspiracy" between Moscow and Afghan radicals.

The Russian authorities denied the accusations, calling the NYT publication a "simple stuffing".

The Taliban * also denied the NYT's publication of ties with Russia, stressing that inaccurate information is being disseminated, among other things, to create obstacles to the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan.

Even the riots on January 6, 2021 in the US Capitol were tried to be blamed on Moscow and other external opponents.

As reported by NBC News, after these events, the FBI launched an investigation into the possible involvement of foreign governments, including Russia, in financing the activists who broke into the building of the American parliament.

A matter of predictability

The inauguration of the head of the White House, Joe Biden, did not lead to a decrease in the degree of anti-Russian hysteria.

Speaking at the beginning of February at the State Department with a keynote speech, the politician said that he would oppose Russia harder than Trump.

“I have made it clear to President Putin, in a manner very different from my predecessor, that the days when the United States buckled in the face of Russian aggressive action are over,” Biden said.

Although the Democrats played a key role in the degradation of Russian-American relations, experts are in no hurry to write off the actions of the Donald Trump administration.

Analysts remind that it was the Republicans who withdrew the United States from the INF Treaty (Treaty on the Elimination of Intermediate-Range and Shorter-Range Missiles), and also began the procedure for the country's withdrawal from the OON (Open Skies Treaty).

  • Donald Trump

  • Reuters

  • © Shannon Stapleton

“Although in words Trump promised to get along with Russia, in practice his administration imposed anti-Russian sanctions and took other confrontational steps.

It is unlikely that anything will change for the better even now, despite the calls for stability in relations, ”says Andrei Sidorov.

With b

about

lshim optimistic about the prospects for Russian-American relations, estimates Paul Feldman.

In his opinion, the words of Biden and Blinken about the need to build more predictable relations with Moscow are based on real premises, and are not just superficial rhetoric.

“It is possible that Biden's team is more pragmatic than its predecessors, because under Trump, the dialogue between the countries was completely interrupted.

Yes, the resumption of dialogue is not equal to a thaw in relations, but it means that the parties can clearly define their interests and positions.

This is better than complete unpredictability, ”concluded the expert.

* "Taliban" - the organization was recognized as terrorist by the decision of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation of February 14, 2003.