President Joe Biden signalled a tougher US stance on Russia Tuesday in his first phone call with President Vladimir Putin, raising concerns over human rights and "aggression" against Ukraine, but welcoming cooperation on a new nuclear weapons accord.
The call was initiated by the White House to discuss progress on extending the New START deal, which limits the two powers to a maximum of 1,550 deployed nuclear warheads each and expires 5 February. An agreement now appears to be close.
But White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said Mr Biden also raised a raft of worries about the Russian authorities' treatment of opposition members, including the "poisoning of Alexei Navalny."
The opposition leader and anti-corruption crusader nearly died last year from a poisoning he says he has proved was carried out by the security services, something Putin denies. Mr Navalny is currently imprisoned in Moscow and over the weekend, police made mass arrests of people demonstrating in his support across the country.
Showing Moscow and Washington are still able to cooperate separately on nuclear issues, the White House said Mr Biden and Mr Putin had agreed to "work urgently" to wrap up negotiations on a fresh five-year period for the New START treaty ahead of its expiry.
The Kremlin said that in their call Mr Putin and Mr Biden "expressed satisfaction" over talks and the Russian leader later submitted a bill to parliament on the five-year extension.
In Washington, a State Department official who asked not to be identified said the two sides had "reached agreement... to proceed quickly to conclude such an agreement by 5 February."
The moves raised hopes for more stability between the world's two most heavily armed nations, drawing a line under the uncertainty that entered under Donald Trump, whom Mr Biden replaced just last week.
The Trump administration had offered a one-year extension ahead of the February deadline but discussions broke down over US insistence on tougher verification that Russia had frozen its nuclear arsenal.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and then-US President Donald Trump during the 2019 G20 Summit in Japan. Source: AAP
Human rights
However, Mr Biden also diverged strongly with Mr Trump on his approach to Russia's human rights record and Ukraine.
Mr Trump went to great lengths while in power to avoid raising complaints about human rights abuses in Russia or criticising Moscow's support for separatists in Ukraine and occupation of Crimea. Mr Biden confronted Mr Putin on both issues.
He brought up "our strong support for Ukraine's sovereignty in the face of Russia's ongoing aggression," Ms Psaki said.
She also enumerated a long sequence of other "matters of concern" causing friction in Washington.
These included the, interference in the 2020 presidential election and reports that Moscow offered bounties for the killing of US soldiers in Afghanistan.
In addition to raising Mr Navalny's case, Mr Biden flagged the "treatment of peaceful protesters by Russian security forces."
Alexei Navalny surrounded by journalists prior to his flight to Moscow in the Airport Berlin Brandenburg in Schoenefeld, Germany, on 17 January. Source: AAP
Ms Psaki said Mr Biden's "intention was also to make clear that the United States will act firmly in defense of our national interests in response to malign actions by Russia."
The Kremlin made no mention of these complaints in its readout of the call, saying instead that Putin urged "normalisation of relations."
This would "meet the interests of both countries," the Kremlin said in a statement, describing the two countries as having "special responsibility for maintaining security and stability in the world."
