Biden meets Putin: summit under the sign of the Navalny case

• On June 16, the meeting between US President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin will take place.
• The US government hopes that US-Russian relations will become more stable again through the summit.
• Further sanctions against Russia because of the poisoning of Alexej Navalny put a strain on the relationship beforehand.
• This article is available in German for the first time – it was first published on May 26, 2021 by the magazine “Foreign Policy”.

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Washington – In late May, White House press secretary Jen Psaki announced the long-awaited meeting between US President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin. The summit is scheduled to take place in Geneva on June 16.

Relations between the two countries have hit a new low since the Cold War. To make matters worse, the Biden administration is threatening another round of sanctions from June 2nd because of the poisoning of opposition leader Alexej Navalny by Russia.

With the first sanctions announced in March, the United States responded to the use of chemical weapons under its Chemical and Biological Weapons Control and Warfare Elimination Act. Russia has done nothing to assure the world community that its soldiers will no longer use these weapons. Therefore, the US is forced to impose further sanctions because of the legal situation.

First meeting between Biden and Putin: US government hopes for “predictable and more stable” relationship

Psaki said the US government hoped that the summit would make US-Russian relations “more predictable and stable” again. If the Biden administration takes too hard on Russia before the meeting, the summit could fail.

If the sanctions are too mild, on the other hand, the government risks being accused of being too lenient towards Putin, while the Russian head of state is tightening the thumbscrews on his domestic opposition and is increasingly provocative on the international stage.

“There is a certain tension: on the one hand, Russia wants to be punished for the use of chemical weapons, on the other hand, relations between the countries should improve on strategic issues,” says Gregory Koblentz, director of the Biodefense Graduate Program at the American George Mason University.

The last American presidents all faced the challenge of building a functioning relationship with Moscow – and at the same time keeping the Kremlin under control with its perfidious moves.

Biden meets Putin: No sanctions for Nord Stream AG from the US

Biden is the first president who does not seek a fresh start with Putin, who has been head of state in Russia since 2000. Still, both Republicans and Democrats in Congress have sharply criticized the government for its recent decision not to sanction Nord Stream AG. The AG is the company that is building the controversial Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline. The nearly 95 percent completed pipeline between Russia and Germany belongs to the Russian energy giant Gazprom in full. Critics fear that Moscow could thereby strengthen its control over the European energy markets and deprive Ukraine of urgently needed transit income.

Biden defended his decision on Tuesday as a measure to reconnect with American allies in Europe after relations suffered under the Trump administration.

Senator Bob Menendez, the Democratic chairman of the Senate’s Foreign Relations Committee, spoke out against Biden’s move, while the Congressional Ukraine Caucus called on the government to reconsider its strategy.

Republicans criticize Biden: “Show weakness that Putin will see as an invitation to provoke”

The Republicans also criticized Biden for failing to sanction Nord Stream AG. “We are showing a weakness that Putin will only see as an invitation to his provocations,” said Republican Senators Ted Cruz, Ron Johnson and John Barrasso in a joint statement on May 17. “He always gets away with almost unpunished with his machinations. The Biden administration gives him additional encouragement with such decisions. “

The second round of sanctions, after Russia administered the neurotoxin Novichok to the Kremlin critic Navalny last August, is under special observation in the wake of the Nord Stream decision.

“The tricky part is that this is as much about perception as it is about actual policy making,” said Brian O’Toole, a former senior sanctions officer in the Obama administration.

USA: Chemical and Biological Weapons Act applied twice against Russia

The Chemical and Biological Weapons Act, passed in 1991, has only been used four times in the past: once against North Korea and Syria, after the countries had used chemical weapons, and twice against Russia, which defeated former spy Sergei Skripal in 2018 and Navalny and Novichok two years later had poisoned.

Former US President Donald Trump expelled over 60 Russian diplomats because of the poisoning of Skripal. He had banned US banks from lending to Russia and prevented US financial institutions from buying non-ruble Russian bonds on the primary market. The Trump administration had also considered banning flights to the United States on Russia’s de facto state airline Aeroflot, according to a former senior Trump administration official.

According to the official, this was ultimately refrained from – fearing that retaliatory measures from Moscow could harm US companies.

USA: Navalny poisoning sanctions

The first round of sanctions in response to the attack on Navalny was announced on March 2nd. The measures included personal sanctions against seven senior Russian officials. It is said that the officials were involved in the decision to poison the opposition leader, who was arrested on his return to Moscow in January, and to later arrest him. Sanctions were also imposed on several organizations involved in Russia’s chemical weapons program.

According to O’Toole, it is important to keep an eye on Menendez as a strong advocate of the law. It is an important yardstick. “If Menendez is angry after the second round, the whole thing will be more difficult for her PR-technically,” he said.

The law gives the government various options in the second round of sanctions. These include bans on bank loans, export restrictions and the downgrading of diplomatic relations. The law also allows for exemptions that would give the President considerable leeway to adjust the sanctions or to withhold them altogether.

Sanctions against Russia: “I don’t think they will back down”

Andrea Kendall-Taylor, director of the transatlantic security program at the Center for a New American Security, expects Washington to continue to take a hard line on Moscow: “I don’t think they are backing down just because a meeting is due,” Kendall said -Taylor, who was briefly responsible for security issues relating to Russia and Central Asia as Senior Director in Biden’s National Security Council.

“The situation is tense, but it’s not the government’s fault. The current situation is a result of Russian politics, ”she said.

By Amy Mackinnon

Amy Mackinnon works as a reporter for Foreign Policy, responsible for national security and intelligence.