Current and former national security council officials defended President Biden’s summit with Vladimir Putin on Sunday, appearing on several network news shows to make a case for Biden’s “wait-and-see” approach – even as White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan acknowledged that only “time will tell” whether the approach will effectively curb Russian aggression.
On ABC News’s “This Week,” Sullivan said Biden’s sit-down with Vladimir Putin was intended to accomplish three things: to identify areas of mutual interest, to warn Putin to stand down in cyber space, and to take a strong stand on human rights issues.
“That alone ... is reason enough to sit face to face with Vladimir Putin," Sullivan told host George Stephanopoulos.
During the summit, Sullivan said the two nations agreed to begin “strategic stability talks,” intended to “help lower the chance of either intended or unintended nuclear massive conventional conflict.”
“That, Sullivan said, “is progress.”
On CNN’s “State of the Union”, Sullivan said that that Biden “is not taking anything for granted” from his meeting with the Russian strongman.
“Confident is not the right word," he said. "Optimistic isn't the right word. The right word is verification, being able to test and see whether, in fact, the relationship does get on to a more stable, predictable basis.”
Earlier this week, Biden told reporters that he is taking a “wait-and-see” approach with Russia, and will determine in the coming months whether the Geneva showdown yielded any tangible gains.
"We'll find out within the next six months to a year whether or not we actually have a strategic dialogue that matters," Biden said.
But Biden’s approach has sparked criticism from lawmakers on both sides of the aisle, who have pushed for a more forceful response to Russia for its string of ransomware attacks, election interference and human rights abuses – including the alleged poisoning of political opponent Alexei Navalny, which he blames on the Kremlin. The Russian government vehemently denies any involvement.
Ranking House Foreign Affairs Committee Republican Michael McCaul told CNN’s Dana Bash that Russia is “testing Biden.”
“And, in my judgment, he failed the test," he added.
Earlier this month, Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Menendez, D-N.J., also slammed the White House for missing a deadline to impose new sanctions on Russia for the alleged Navalny poisoning – though administration officials have since clarified that new sanctions are being prepared.
On CBS’s “Face the Nation,” former top White House Russia adviser Fiona Hill called the sanctions “obligatory” and said she believes Russia is “well aware” they are coming.
“The Russians were already put on notice that the death of Navalny would be seen as a really serious event that would basically get some responses as well,” Hill said. “So I think, you know, the Russians were certainly forewarned and probably well aware that these sanctions were coming.”
“President Biden, by sitting opposite Putin, looking him in the face, as he said, and then being very clear about what the red lines are, is already setting the tone for next sets of meetings,” she said Sunday on CBS’s “Face the Nation.”
On NBC News’s “Meet the Press,” she dismissed speculation that Putin may have gotten more out of the sit-down than Biden, telling host Chuck Todd: "It's not a win if nothing happens out of it. That is just an episodic event.
Sullivan echoed these remarks on ABC News, saying the U.S. ultimately “had these meaningful engagements on the security and diplomatic side that we believe will put this relationship on a more stable footing. But we don't know. We can't predict what the next year will bring”
“At this point, as President Biden said, the proof in the pudding will be in the eating.”
The Geneva sit-down was preceded by a wave of crippling, Russian-based ransomware attacks on U.S. companies and critical infrastructure. On Wednesday, Biden told reporters he had given the Russian president a list of 16 areas of critical infrastructure that are “off-limits” to hackers, and vowed to retaliate with America’s full arsenal of cyber capabilities should any of those 16 entities suffer a breach.
On “Face the Nation,” Hill predicted Russia will conduct some covert activity that goes beyond the “red lines” set by Biden. Russia, she said, is “very much testing the guardrails at all points, they are testing the limits.”
Biden has not given specifics as to what, exactly, he told the Russian leader about U.S. cyber capabilities, or what costs Washington might impose, should Putin continue to allow such activity.
Earlier this week, Sullivan told CNN that Biden’s warnings to Putin about cyber aggression were "not a threat," but were instead "an objective statement of what President Biden is prepared to do to protect America's interests.” Biden told Putin that the U.S. “will respond if certain harmful activities continue,” Sullivan added Sunday.
On “Meet the Press,” Hill maintained that the main obstacle to stabilized U.S.-Russia relations is cyber. “We’re going to have to see whether we’re able to actually sit down and have some serious cyber talks,” with Moscow, Hill said. “And not just at the working level, but something that takes it up to try to reach some kind of agreement."
Asked on “Face the Nation” whether the term “Cold War” could once again be an applicable way to capture the state of U.S.-Russian relations, Hill said the term “hot war” is more appropriate: “[The] cyber war is a hot war, same with the information war, because actions are already happening,” she said.
“I mean, we know that the Russians have had this massive penetration of our systems, the SolarWinds hack. We've seen that they have interfered in our election by trying to get onto critical systems. We've already seen these ransomware attacks … [in which] many of the suspects have been criminals for hire or at least have not been reined in by Russia, which is tantamount also to certainly allowing attacks to take place – on everything from pipelines, to hospitals, and to other systems. And in terms of information war, we know that the Russians have been out using social media platforms and kinds of propaganda. So we're already there.”
Now what we’re essentially trying to do, Hill said, “is to try and reel that back- to basically win that back, and try to get some kind of restraint here. We’re basically [now sitting with] the dilemma of, how do we do that? Can we get a comprehensive cyber agreement like we did in the nuclear weapons realm, or is that just going to be too difficult?”
“President Biden has been pretty clear from the outset that he wants to be able to have a space, to be able to engage directly, privately, candidly with President Putin, and then to determine whether the actions that Russia takes in the months ahead, match up with the discussions that took place in Geneva,” Sullivan said on ABC News’s “This Week.” That is where we will turn our focus at this point.”
But Russia isn’t the only country looking to open a dialogue.
Also on the tale: possible nuclear talks with Pyongyang. Earlier this week, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un appeared to signal interest in reopening such discussions with the U.S, saying he was ready for “both confrontation and diplomacy.”
Asked Sunday whether the U.S. would be willing to re-engage with Pyongyang, Sullivan said that only “time will tell.”
“We are awaiting a clear signal from Pyongyang as to whether they are prepared to sit down at the table to begin working in that direction, Sullivan said, adding that the White House sees Kim Jong Un’s comments as “an interesting signal.” Ultimately, he said, the U.S. will wait to see whether his comments “are followed up with any kind of more direct communication to us about a potential path forward.