Difficult dialogue: how relations between Russia and the United States developed in 2021

Late in the evening of December 30, a telephone conversation took place between Russian President Vladimir Putin and the head of the White House, Joe Biden.

According to the Kremlin press service, the key topic of the dialogue was the implementation of the agreement reached earlier by the parties to launch negotiations on the provision of legal guarantees of the security of the Russian Federation.

“The main topic of the conversation was the implementation of the agreement reached during the videoconference on December 7 to launch negotiations on the provision of legal guarantees for ensuring Russia's security,” the Kremlin’s press service said in a statement.

"It was emphasized that the result of joint work should be solid legal guarantees that exclude NATO's advance to the east and the deployment of threatening weapons systems in the immediate vicinity of Russian borders."

The security of Russia and the United States can be ensured only through strict adherence to the "principle of the indivisibility of security," the Kremlin said.

In addition, the parties expressed their mutual readiness for a serious and meaningful dialogue on these issues.

“It was confirmed that the talks will take place first in Geneva on January 9-10, and then in the framework of the Russia-NATO Council in Brussels on January 12.

On January 13, discussions will begin in the OSCE.

The presidents agreed to keep under personal control the course of discussions on the above-mentioned negotiation tracks, and especially in a bilateral format with an eye to the earliest possible achievement of concrete results, "the Kremlin press service informed.

In this context, Biden stressed that Moscow and Washington bear a special responsibility "for ensuring stability in Europe and the world as a whole."

The head of the White House also said that the United States has no plans to deploy offensive strike weapons on Ukrainian territory.

In addition, according to the White House, Biden called on Russia to de-escalate the situation around Ukraine and made it clear that the United States and its allies would follow a "decisive response" if "Russia invades Ukraine."

At the same time, as reported in the Kremlin, the President of the Russian Federation gave an exhaustive answer to the "option of adopting" large-scale "sanctions against Russia in the event of an escalation of the situation around Ukraine", again mentioned by Biden.

"In particular, (the Russian leader was.

) said that this would be a grave mistake, in fact, threatening a complete rupture of Russian-American relations," the message says.

As summarized in the Kremlin, on the whole, the conversation between the two leaders was "frank and businesslike" and was useful to both sides.

“It was agreed to continue regular contacts at the highest level,” the statement says.

• Reuters

• © Anton Vaganov

Aide to the President of Russia Yuri Ushakov also spoke about the details of the conversation between Putin and Biden.

According to him, during the conversation, the Russian leader told his American counterpart that the Russian Federation would behave the way the United States would behave if offensive weapons were deployed near American borders.

As Ushakov said, during his talks with Putin, Biden emphasized more than once that a nuclear war "cannot be started, nor can it be won."

Ushakov also noted that the success of the negotiation process on security guarantees will lead to the normalization of bilateral relations between Russia and the United States.

This is the second conversation between Vladimir Putin and Joe Biden over the past month.

Earlier, the heads of state communicated via video link on December 7.

Then, following the talks, the Kremlin press service reported that Vladimir Putin drew the attention of his American counterpart to the fact that Moscow is seriously interested in obtaining reliable, legally fixed guarantees that would exclude NATO expansion eastward.

Recall that on December 17, the Russian Foreign Ministry published the draft treaty with the United States and an agreement with NATO on security guarantees, which were transferred to Washington and the leadership of the North Atlantic Alliance.

The documents included provisions on non-deployment of intermediate and shorter-range missiles in each other's reach, mutual guarantees of security in Europe and refusal from further NATO expansion, including at the expense of the former Soviet republics.

As Russian Ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov wrote in an article for Foreign Policy, Russia wants to be confident in the future, and therefore needs commitments from the United States and other countries of the alliance.

According to him, the Russian draft agreements on security guarantees do not infringe on the security of the United States and its allies in the bloc.

As Antonov emphasized, they, on the contrary, create "conditions for defusing tensions in Europe, reviving trust and enhancing interaction in order to resolve global challenges."

Antonov also noted that no one should have doubts about the determination of the Russian Federation to defend its security.

As he stated, the continuation by the West of its policy of creating military threats to Russia will provoke a response in the form of creating "vulnerabilities" for him.

"Defend strategic interests"

As Vladimir Vasiliev, chief researcher at the Institute of the United States and Canada of the Russian Academy of Sciences, noted in an interview with RT, the last telephone conversation between Putin and Biden this year was aimed at relieving unnecessary tension in relations between Moscow and Washington before a new round of security talks.

“During the telephone conversation, the parties actually reached an agreement on military de-escalation.

Probably, the possibility of provocations and some other similar incidents was ruled out in the next two weeks, during which negotiations between the Russian Federation and the United States on security are planned, ”Vasiliev said.

According to him, Moscow “does not need negotiations for the sake of negotiations,” it expects tangible results from interaction with the United States.

“The content of the telephone conversation between Putin and Biden suggests that in the near future the countries may come to agreements through a compromise, which will include, among other things, greater compliance on the American side.

The hopes that the US pressure policy would somehow change the foreign policy of the Russian Federation did not come true, so there is a chance that now the United States will become more negotiable, ”Vasiliev noted.

The fact that Biden said there was no intention to deploy offensive strike weapons on Ukrainian territory testifies to the fact that the topic of Ukraine in the American system of foreign policy priorities is gradually losing its relevance, the expert said.

“At the same time, one gets the impression that Biden’s words about the allegedly probable“ invasion ”of the Russian Federation into Ukraine and other statements related to this addressed to Moscow are an attempt to show himself as a tough politician for the internal audience,” Vasiliev believes.

In his opinion, despite the fact that the negotiations between Russia and the United States are regarded by part of the American political establishment as a manifestation of some weakness, compromises in the security sphere are mutually beneficial for both sides.

“At the same time, Russia is already directly saying that Moscow is ready to defend its strategic interests and is not going to sacrifice them,” emphasizes Vasiliev.

Strategic decision

Recall that in 2021, Moscow had to build relations with the new US administration under the leadership of Democratic President Joe Biden.

Despite the fact that during his election campaign in 2020, Biden threatened Moscow with consequences for his alleged involvement in interference in elections and cyberattacks, the politician began his presidency with a step that experts assess as rather positive.

So, shortly after taking office, Biden extended the START III Treaty on Measures to Further Reduce and Limit Strategic Offensive Arms.

This agreement was the last strategic nuclear arms control agreement between Washington and Moscow.

• Reuters

• © Jim Bourg

Earlier, the Trump administration unilaterally withdrew the United States from the Treaty on the Elimination of Intermediate-Range and Shorter-Range Missiles and the Open Skies Treaty.

Commenting on the decision of the new American leader, Vladimir Putin said that he welcomes the Biden administration's fulfillment of its campaign promises.

Biden's demarche

However, in March, bilateral relations between the Russian Federation and the United States deteriorated after Biden's harsh statement about the Russian leader.

In an interview with ABC News, the US President answered in the affirmative when asked by a journalist whether he considers Vladimir Putin a "killer." 

Vladimir Putin invited Biden to hold open negotiations online, but the American leader ignored this offer.

In March, Russian Ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov was recalled for consultations in Moscow. 

Despite the demarches by the President of the United States, on April 13, at the initiative of the American side, the leaders of the two countries held a telephone conversation, during which they discussed, among other things, bilateral relations.

As a result, the Kremlin reported that Joe Biden made a proposal to consider the possibility of holding a personal summit meeting.

However, on April 15, the American president signed a decree on the introduction of new sanctions against Russia.

Among the grounds for the application of restrictions were the allegedly hostile activity of Russia in cyberspace and "interference" in the US elections.

On the same day, Washington announced the expulsion of ten Russian diplomats from the country.

• © Komsomolskaya Pravda / Global Look Press

In response, the Russian Foreign Ministry published a list of reciprocal sanctions against the United States.

After that, Moscow also expelled ten American diplomats, took measures to stop hiring citizens of Russia and third countries to the US embassy or consulate general, and tightened the rules for the movement of American diplomats across the territory of the Russian Federation.

At the same time, the United States began talking about an allegedly disturbing accumulation of Russian troops on the border with Ukraine and in Crimea.

Thus, the Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said that the Russian Federation should be more transparent in the matter of the movement of its troops.

Meeting in Geneva

Experts note that a personal meeting between Vladimir Putin and Joe Biden in Geneva became a new starting point in relations between the two countries. 

As a result, Moscow and Washington agreed to return their previously recalled ambassadors.

After the meeting, Vladimir Putin said that both sides are committed to finding solutions to problems in bilateral relations.

In turn, Biden noted that the atmosphere of the meeting with Putin was "good and positive."

The Russian and US presidents also adopted a joint statement on strategic stability and nuclear arms control.

To achieve these goals, Moscow and Washington agreed to launch a comprehensive bilateral dialogue.

However, despite the seemingly positive outcome of the talks between the leaders of the two countries, the United States continued its confrontational policy towards Russia, experts remind. 

On December 7, the talks between Putin and Biden took place against the backdrop of hysteria fueled by the Western media around the fact that Russia was allegedly preparing a "military invasion" of Ukraine.

According to the press secretary of the President of Russia Dmitry Peskov, Vladimir Putin, in a conversation with Biden, clearly said that Russian troops were deployed on the territory of the Russian Federation and did not threaten anyone.

Soon, the Russian Foreign Ministry sent Washington and Brussels draft documents on mutual security guarantees.  

• kremlin.ru

Yuri Rogulev, director of the Franklin Roosevelt Foundation for the Study of the United States at Moscow State University, notes that Washington pursued a dual policy towards Moscow in 2021: on the one hand, making statements about the need for dialogue, on the other, continuing to pursue a policy of containing Russia.

“The American administration has found a convenient formula for itself: to conduct a dialogue on issues of special interest to the United States and to continue confrontation where no agreement is possible.

This indicates the continuation of the previous policy.

We, nevertheless, hope that the US approach will change, and the number of topics on which we can agree will grow, "the political scientist said in an interview with RT.

Dialogue with the United States in the new 2022 will not be easy, since the unstable internal political situation in America influences Washington's line of behavior, Yuri Rogulyov believes.

“US foreign policy has become an object of internal political battles, which has not been observed before.

All this suggests that Washington's course will be very contradictory.

The United States will try to maintain its leadership position and adhere to a policy of domination, which it will be increasingly difficult to implement.

Attempts by the US administration to combine these two approaches may lead to instability and the breakdown of negotiations on some issues.

Therefore, I believe that in 2022 there will be a rather difficult period for the United States to adapt to the changing world situation, ”the expert emphasized.

In turn, political scientist Alexander Asafov believes that at the moment it is rather difficult to assess the overall dynamics of bilateral relations between the Russian Federation and the United States.

"Of course, everyone understands that a way out of this crisis is needed, and it is obvious that in the summer, at a meeting between Putin and Biden in Geneva, certain compromises were reached," the expert recalled in a commentary on RT.

However, at the same time, Asafov noted the actions of the United States, which promote dialogue on certain topics such as strategic stability, but at the same time reinforce anti-Russian rhetoric.

“Of course, there is a serious duality of positions in this, and for the sake of their one-sided benefit, they will continue to do this.

But we must take into account the proposals put forward by Russia on security, which are set out in relation to NATO and the United States and which will be discussed in January - they are quite categorical and straightforward, "the political scientist emphasized.

If Washington refuses to consider them, relations between the Russian Federation and the United States will worsen, Alexander Asafov believes.

“Further dialogue between the Russian Federation and the United States largely depends on the response to our proposals on security guarantees related to the non-proliferation of NATO to the east and the non-deployment of weapons near the borders of the Russian Federation.

Moscow's position is quite constructive: we are talking about our own security, on our doorstep, and not somewhere overseas.

The dialogue will be difficult, but I think that it will nevertheless be, "the expert summed up.