On Monday,  US President Joe Biden said that he is “very concerned” by the way Russia has handled the situation with Alexei Navalny, the opposition leader. However, he added that Russia and the US need to have a sense of cooperation on matters of nuclear arms control. 

Speaking after mass arrests of people demonstrating across Russia this weekend against President Vladimir Putin and the jailing of Navalny, Biden said he was “very concerned.”

However, the US President stated that the extension of the START nuclear arms pact will be prioritised. 

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Biden said at a White house media conference, “I find we can both operate in mutual self-interest of our countries as a New START agreement and make it clear to Russia that we are, we are very concerned about their behaviour.” 

Biden also mentioned the pressing issues which caused strain between the two countries and hinted towards the alleged case of Russia offering bounties to the Taliban to kill US soldiers in Afghan territories and the hack of US computer networks. 

“I have asked the agencies in question to do a thorough read for me on every one of those issues, to update me precisely where they are, and I will not hesitate to raise those issues with the Russians,” he said.

Jen Psaki, the White House Press Secretary for the Biden administration refused to speak about the response of the President, saying that his options were open. 

“As has always been the case, the president reserves the right to respond in the time and manner of his choosing. And I’m not going to take options off the table from here,” she told reporters.

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The State Department of the US, however, was vocal about condemning the “harsh tactics” being used by the Russian authorities to tackle the countrywide protests in support of Navalny. 

Jen Psaki, while commenting on the case of Paul Whelan, said that the new administration will follow a different approach than the previous administration. 

She said, “Certainly we don’t plan to follow the same pattern of the last administration.”