Russian President Vladimir Putin and President Joe Biden agreed to resume stalled nuclear talks and return their ambassadors to their overseas posts on Wednesday, two concrete measures emerging from their summit in Geneva.
Putin said at a press conference that talks with Biden had been “very productive” and that there had been “no hostilities” between the two.
Biden echoed this feeling at his own press conference, calling the talks “good, positive”. He added that the talks were not “held in a hyperbolic atmosphere – that’s too much of what’s going on”.
Neither Russia’s ambassador to the United States, Anatoly Antonov, nor Washington’s ambassador to Moscow, John Sullivan, are currently at his post. Both men were recalled this spring after Biden announced a new round of US sanctions to punish Russia for a massive cyberattack on US government agencies last year.
As a result, consular operations, visas and other diplomatic services came to a virtual standstill in both countries. This collapse had an impact on industries, families and aid agencies that have links in both countries.
In February, the Biden government extended the new strategic arms reduction treaty with Russia for another five years.
On Wednesday, Putin and Biden agreed that consultations on “strategic stability,” an abbreviation for nuclear arsenals, between the two nations should be resumed. The composition, location and frequency of these interviews are determined by working-level officials and not by the two presidents.
Biden said that in practice this means “bringing our military and diplomatic experts together to take control of new and dangerous weapon systems”.
The United States and Russia will “jointly begin an integrated bilateral strategic stability dialogue in the near future. We want to lay the foundations for future arms control and risk reduction measures,” said a joint statement by the Russian Foreign Ministry on Twitter.
New START is currently the only arms control treaty between Washington and Moscow.
Former US President Donald Trump has withdrawn from medium-range nuclear missiles. Similar to the INF treaty, New START limits the nuclear arsenals of Washington and Moscow.
The United States and Russia own the lion’s share of the world’s nuclear weapons.
US President Joe Biden (L) and Russia’s President Vladimir Putin (R) meet for talks at Villa La Grange.
Mikhail Metzel | TASS | Getty Images
Cyber crime
Biden said he and Putin had talked extensively about cybersecurity and told Putin that “certain critical infrastructures should be banned from attack, period”. Biden said he gave Putin a list of 16 specific units, from energy to water systems.
Biden’s warning to Putin followed two targeted ransomware attacks directly targeting American citizens last month, both of which were perpetrated by criminals believed to be based in Russia.
The first was an attack on the operator of the country’s largest gas pipeline, the Colonial Pipeline, in early May. The attack forced the company to shut down an approximately 8,500-mile fuel pipeline, causing nearly half of the east coast’s fuel disruption and fuel shortages in the southeast and airline disruptions.
The second attack, this time by another Russia-based cybercriminal group, targeted JBS, the world’s largest meat supplier. The company eventually paid a $ 11 million ransom, but not before it temporarily ceased all of its U.S. operations.
Putin identified questions about the attacks and specifically mentioned the attack on the Colonial Pipeline as one with which Russia had nothing to do.
But US officials say the notion that Putin is unaware of these attacks is not credible as he has a tight grip on Russia’s intelligence services and its more opaque network of contractors.
Russian President Vladimir Putin (L) shakes hands with US President Joe Biden ahead of the US-Russia summit at Villa La Grange in Geneva on June 16, 2021.
Brendan Smialowski | AFP | Getty Images
From the start, few breakthroughs were expected from either side. Biden and Putin recently said they believe Russian-US relations have hit rock bottom since the Cold War.
Officials in Moscow and Washington have also spent months lowering expectations for the summit, and this week advisers to both leaders said it was unlikely that any deal would be reached in Geneva.
Rather than delivering concrete results, the United States saw the summit as an opportunity to build more stable and predictable relationships between the world’s two largest nuclear powers.
“Both leaders showed moderate respect for one another, and the ambassadors’ return was likely a prearranged performance that looks good,” said Tom Block, Washington policy strategist for Fundstrat
“A trip that puts the US on the same page with our allies should add to Biden’s image as a seasoned politician and leader, which is likely to be reassuring to market participants,” he said.
