Newsman: President Joe Biden criticized Russia in his first visit to the State Department on Thursday.
“I made it clear to President Putin in a manner very different from my predecessor that the days of the United States rolling over in the face of Russia’s aggressive actions — interfering with our elections, cyber attacks, poisoning its citizens — are over. We will not hesitate to the raise the cost on Russia and defend our vital interest and our people,” Biden said.
“The politically motivated jailing of Alexei Navalny and the Russian efforts to suppress freedom of expression and peaceful assembly are a matter of deep concern to us and the international community,” Biden said, adding that Navalny had been “targeted” for exposing corruption and should be “released immediately and without condition.”
In his speech, Biden said that he has already been in touch with many world leaders to “begin re-forming the habits of cooperation and rebuilding the muscles of democratic alliances that have atrophied from four years of neglect and abuse.”
Thursday’s actions build off a number of foreign policy moves Biden has taken in his first two weeks in office. He rejoined the Paris Climate Accords and the World Health Organization, ended a ban on U.S. entry from majority-Muslim countries and extended a crucial nuclear arms control treaty with Russia until 2026.
Biden’s speech comes as he is already confronting new international crises in just his first two weeks in office: the imprisonment of Navalny and a military coup in Myanmar.
“There can be no doubt: In a democracy, force should never seek to overrule the will of the people or attempt to erase the outcome of a credible election. The Burmese military should relinquish power,” Biden said.
In addition to signaling a new approach towards Russia, Biden announced a number of steps he will take to unwind Trump’s foreign policy, which rested on an “America First” approach to interacting with the world.
Biden also said he will order an end to American support for offensive operations in Yemen, calling the war a “humanitarian and strategic catastrophe,” and will order a freeze on the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Germany initiated by Trump.
Biden stressed the importance of officials in the foreign and civil service, signaling another break from Trump who frequently criticized career officials as part of the “deep state” and threatened to cut the department’s budget.
“I want the people who work in this building and in our embassies and consulates around the world to know that I value your expertise, and I respect you,” Biden said. “I will have your back. This administration is going to empower you to do your jobs, not target or politicize you.”
Biden also referenced the Jan. 6th insurrection at the U.S. Capitol that targeted American democracy, saying that the nation’s values were “pushed to the brink in the last few weeks” but that “the American people will emerge from this stronger, more determined, and better equipped to unite the world in fighting to defend democracy – because we have fought for it ourselves.”
White House press secretary Jen Psaki has said that there are no foreign trips in the works as of now and many global meetings with world leaders are expected to be virtual this year due to the coronavirus pandemic.
