All news

Russian diplomat notes huge difference in approaches of Biden and Trump administrations

According to Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov, the "ultra-conservative pressure" of the previous administration gave way to "the comprehensive and ideological approach of protecting American interests, very characteristic of the US Democratic Party"
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov Anton Novoderezhkin/TASS
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov
© Anton Novoderezhkin/TASS

MOSCOW, July 13. /TASS/. The administrations of US President Joe Biden and former US President Donald Trump differ significantly when it comes to their approaches and political style, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said in an interview with the International Affairs magazine.

"There is a huge difference [between the administrations]. In many aspects, they are opposites, but not in the sense of people seeing the US priorities and interests differently. On the contrary, this is where the current and the previous [US administrations] coincide, but the methodology, the approaches, the style, the genre, the presentation - everything is different now," he emphasized.

According to Ryabkov, the "ultra-conservative pressure" of the previous administration gave way to "the comprehensive and ideological approach of protecting American interests, very characteristic of the US Democratic Party". The diplomat noted that during the Geneva summit, the US made it clear that Moscow and Washington have different values. "It wasn’t like this in the past, but the point is the same: Moscow is seen as a geopolitical rival in many areas, Moscow is seen as a source of concern when it comes to America’s unconditional dominance in the world," the senior diplomat said.

He stressed that it is too early to point out real differences in the approaches of the Trump and Biden administrations and make conclusions. "This is why our senior officials and our president say that we need some time before we can say whether there have been positive developments in bilateral relations," Ryabkov added. "Under the Trump administration, there was nothing behind the occasionally positive rhetoric, aside from the attempts to squeeze out as much as possible, so to say. Naturally, our aversion to this policy was absolutely clear, and relations did not improve, they only worsened."

On June 16, Putin and Biden held their first meeting in Geneva. In a joint statement, the leaders stressed that the sides plan to launch comprehensive bilateral dialogue on strategic stability, which would be substantive and vigorous. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken stated that the Geneva summit had provided an opportunity for more productive work in the sphere of arms control.