DM Monitoring
WASHINGTON: US President Joe Biden has warned Russian leader Vladimir Putin about election meddling in their first call as counterparts, the White House says.
The conversation also included a discussion about the ongoing opposition protests in Russia. A Kremlin statement did not refer to any points of friction, saying the call was “businesslike and frank”.
Both sides reportedly agreed to extend the countries’ last remaining nuclear deal during the call.
Former US President Donald Trump sometimes undercut his own administration’s tough posture on Russia and was accused by some of being too deferential to Mr Putin. But Mr Trump’s predecessor Barack Obama – under whom Mr Biden served as vice-president – was also criticised for failing to check Russia as it annexed Crimea, supported rebel forces in eastern Ukraine and backed the government of warn-torn Syria.
“President Biden made clear that the United States will act firmly in defence of its national interests in response to actions by Russia that harm us or our allies,” the White House said in a statement, referencing the main talking points of Tuesday afternoon’s call but listing no further details.
The US said that the two presidents also discussed the massive SolarWinds cyber-attack, which has been blamed on Moscow; reports that the Kremlin placed bounties on US soldiers in Afghanistan; and the poisoning of Russian opposition activist Alexei Navalny.
