Biden, in First Putin Call, Presses on Navalny and Cyberattacks While Securing New START Extension

President Joe Biden spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin for the first time on Tuesday, January 26, according to both the White House and the Kremlin. The call came six days after Biden took office, and it covered an unusual mix of subjects: an arms treaty both sides want to save, and a list of grievances Washington wants answered.

US officials, who were familiar with the call but not authorized to discuss it publicly, said Biden raised the arrest of opposition figure Alexei Navalny. He also pressed Putin on Russia's role in the SolarWinds cyberespionage campaign and on reports that Moscow offered the Taliban bounties to kill American troops in Afghanistan. Biden told Putin his administration was still assessing the SolarWinds breach and the bounty reports. He said the United States is prepared to defend itself and will act, possibly with further sanctions, so that Moscow does not operate with impunity. According to the officials, he also told Putin he knew Russia had tried to interfere in both the 2016 and 2020 elections, a sharp break from Donald Trump, who often cast doubt on Russian interference, including when standing beside Putin at their 2018 summit in Helsinki.

The one clear point of agreement was New START, the last remaining arms control treaty between the two countries, which expires next month. The leaders agreed to have their teams work urgently to complete an extension. The Kremlin's readout said that in the nearest days the parties would finish the procedures needed to ensure the pact keeps functioning.

The Kremlin's account left out the most contentious issues. It called the conversation "frank and businesslike," a phrase often used to signal a tense exchange, and said only that the leaders discussed other acute issues on the bilateral and international agenda. It listed the coronavirus pandemic, the Iran nuclear agreement, Ukraine, and trade and economic matters. It also said Putin congratulated Biden and noted that normalized ties would serve both countries.

The call followed a weekend of pro-Navalny protests in more than 100 Russian cities. More than 3,700 people were arrested nationwide, including more than 1,400 in Moscow, and more protests are planned for the coming weekend. Navalny, an anti-corruption campaigner and Putin's best-known critic, was detained on January 17 as he returned from Germany, where he spent nearly five months recovering from a nerve-agent poisoning he blames on the Kremlin. Russian authorities deny the accusation. Biden's team has already reacted strongly to the crackdown.

The sequence of the call was deliberate. Moscow asked for it last week, the officials said. Biden agreed but first wanted to prepare with his staff and consult European allies, including the leaders of Britain, France and Germany. On Tuesday, before speaking with Putin, he talked with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and pledged US commitment to the alliance.

Biden has not sought a "reset" with Russia, as recent predecessors did. He appears to want to manage differences without necessarily resolving them, and with a heavy domestic agenda and pending decisions on Iran and China, he does not seek a direct confrontation. On Monday he told reporters the countries can act in mutual self-interest on New START while making clear their concern over Navalny, SolarWinds and the reported bounties.

Trump's record was mixed. He was conciliatory toward Putin in public, yet his administration imposed sanctions on Russia, Russian companies and business leaders over issues from Ukraine to energy supplies and attacks on dissidents. Former diplomats say Trump often undercut that hawkish line by courting Putin privately, and that he was frequently unprepared for leader calls, limited who could listen and told few aides what was said afterward.

Some former US diplomats approve of Biden's approach. They are watching how national security adviser Jake Sullivan and Victoria Nuland, his nominee for the No 3 post at the State Department, shape Russia policy. Nuland handled Europe under Barack Obama and is disliked by Putin and his aides for backing pro-Western politicians in Ukraine. She and Sullivan are said to favor a tough line on human rights and Russian aims in eastern and central Europe while keeping a channel open to the Kremlin. Daniel Fried, a former ambassador to Poland now at the Atlantic Council, called the task hard but doable. His advice: pursue New START without hesitation, push back on Navalny without guilt, and do not let Putin make the treaty conditional on dropping those issues.