President Joe Biden has raised election meddling in his first call with Russian Vladimir Putin, the White House says.
The phone 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 President Donald Trump sometimes undercut his own administration’s tough posture on Russia and was accused by some of being too deferential to Vladimir Putin.
However, Donald Trump’s predecessor Barack Obama – under whom Joe Biden served as vice-president – was also criticized for failing to check Russia as it annexed Crimea, supported rebel forces in eastern Ukraine and backed the government of war-torn Syria.
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The White House said in a statement: “President Biden made clear that the United States will act firmly in defense of its national interests in response to actions by Russia that harm us or our allies.”
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.
According to the Kremlin statement, the Russian president had “noted that the normalization of relations between Russia and the United States would meet the interests of both countries and – taking into account their special responsibility for maintaining security and stability in the world – of the entire international community”.
Joe Biden and Vladimir Putin also discussed the New Start treaty, an Obama-era accord that limits the amounts of warheads, missiles and launchers in the two countries’ nuclear arsenals.
The treaty had been due to expire on February 5, but both sides reportedly agreed to extend the treaty during January 26 call.
The Trump administration, however, had refused to sign it and talks over an extension stalled.
On January 27, the Russian parliament ratified a five-year extension of the treaty. President Putin said the move was a “step in the right direction” to reducing global tensions.
