It was their first chairman-to-chairman exchange and an opportunity to discuss hot topics. For the first time since entering the White House, Joe Biden spoke on Tuesday, January 26, with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, while US-Russian relations are at their lowest since the end of the Cold War, despite the unsuccessful attempts at rapprochement by former United States President Donald Trump.
Due to a tight schedule, the two leaders discussed the extension of the New Start nuclear arms limitation agreement, which expires in ten days. Signed in 2010, this treaty is the last major agreement to reduce and limit the number of armaments existing between the former rivals of the Cold War. It limits the arsenals of Russia and the United States to a maximum of 1,550 warheads deployed for each of these two countries, a reduction of nearly 30% compared to the previous ceiling set in 2002.
On Monday, President Biden said he intended both to move forward on this urgent matter and Vladimir Putin submitted to Parliament a bill to endorse this ” agreement in principle “, if confirmed by both countries.
Ukraine, Navalny, Russian interference
The American president has raised all the angry questions. 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 shared his “Concern” about “The poisoning of Alexey Navalny”, the Russian opponent arrested on January 17 on his return to Russia after a five-month convalescence in Germany, as well as “Treatment of peaceful demonstrators by Russian security forces”.
He then mentioned, according to his spokesperson, the “Interference in the 2020 election” in the United States, the recent giant cyberattack against American ministries attributed by Washington to Moscow and the information according to which Russia had paid “Bonuses” 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.
As he does regularly, Vladimir Putin, for his part, said he supported “Normalization of relations between Russia and the United States”, which, according to him, “Would respond to the interests of both countries but also those of the entire international community, given their particular responsibility in maintaining security and stability in the world”, reported the Russian Presidency.
