A new crisis in relations between Russia and America

With the new administration headed by President Biden coming to power in Washington, unfortunately, a new page in relations between Russia and the United States has not been opened. Moreover, the negative rhetoric has become even louder and tougher. Even though Biden initiated last February a telephone conversation with President Putin, the bilateral dialogue is gradually fading, replaced by the threats of new sanctions against Moscow, writes Moscow Correspondent Alex Ivanov.

As before, Nord Stream 2, Russia's "interference" in the democratic processes in America, Moscow's use of "chemical weapons" to eliminate dissidents (the Navalny case), the ongoing "annexation" of Crimea and many other problematic issues, according to the American side’s concideration, remain among the main irritants for Washington.

A very recent example is Biden's interview with ABC, in which the American president threatened Moscow with "reprisals" for interfering in the 2020 elections. An angry reaction in Moscow was caused by Biden's phrase that he considers Putin a "killer".

The White House will announce new restrictive measures against Russia in the near future – the press secretary of the US administration, Jen Psaki, told reporters. Earlier, US intelligence prepared a report in which Russia is accused of interfering in the US elections in 2020.

At the same time, Psaki reiterated that the American leader is not going to soften his words against Russia, but will continue to look for opportunities for cooperation with Moscow in the field of nuclear non-proliferation.

A few days ago the Russian Ambassador to Washington, Anatoly Antonov, was invited to Moscow for consultations. This came after Biden said in an interview with ABC News that Moscow "will answer for interfering in the elections" in 2020, as previously reported by intelligence. The US president also answered in the affirmative to a journalist's question whether he considers his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin a "killer".

The Russian Foreign Ministry called this a manifestation of the purposeful policy of Washington, which "for two years deliberately brought" Russian-American cooperation to a standstill.

Putin, commenting on Biden's statements, ironically wished him “good health”. Later, he suggested that the American leader continue the conversation "without any delay, but directly in an open direct discussion." According to him, this "would be interesting for the people of Russia, for the people of the United States, and for many other countries." Among the topics that they could discuss, Putin mentioned bilateral relations, the fight against the pandemic, the settlement of regional conflicts and issues of strategic stability.

The White House has not yet responded to the proposal.

Analysts in Moscow and Washington believe that bilateral relations have indeed reached an impasse. Especially, American journalists were confused by Biden's outspoken statements and his use of extremely harsh language.

At the same time, politicians in both countries are convinced that Moscow and Washington have an extensive agenda for cooperation and interaction. First of all, these are issues of arms control, the fight against terrorism, the COVID-19 pandemic, the fight against global warming and many other topics.

Moscow is concerned about the attitude of the Administration in Washington to further escalate tensions between the two countries and expresses its readiness to conduct a normal and civilized dialogue on issues of mutual interest.

However, everything suggests that Washington thinks differently.

Share this article: