Punishing Putin isn’t enough — the US must learn how to speak Russian

Much anticipation has begun to build up over the summit that is to be held between Vladimir Putin and Joe Biden on June 16th in Geneva. The Biden administration is seemingly taking a cautious approach so far, saying that it is seeking neither to rest the relationship nor escalate tensions, but to put “guardrails” on it.

But this summit represents more than just an attempt to display goodwill from both parties. It represents the beginning of what could, if Biden plays his cards right, be the establishment of a pivotal dialogue that is vital for the mutual advancement not just the US and Russia, but for Russia and the world as whole. The pursuit of mere “guardrails” for the perceived Russian threat — i.e., the attempt to further control and subdue Russia — misses an opportunity for true leadership in US foreign affairs.

Throughout his time in power, Putin has fought tooth and nail to bring Russia to the table of discussion, forcing major global powers to finally recognise Russia as a force to be reckoned with since the collapse of the Soviet Union. As a matter of security, sanctions have become a staple of long-running US foreign policy strategy. In 2014, relating to the annexation of Crimea and the deployment of Russian forces in Ukraine’s Donbass region, the US began imposing types of sanctions that would reduce Russia’s long-term economic growth rate — and by extension their capability to exercise military and political power on the international stage. Although this approach has certainly slowed the growth of foreign businesses entering the market, it’s pretty clear that Crimea is not being given back to the Ukraine any time soon.

Additionally, whilst it may be obvious that Russia is still in the Donbass and is still backing the public governments that it set up there in 2014 and 2015, these sanctions do allow us to gain further insight into the rationale behind Russian behaviour.

When sanctions were imposed in 2014, it wasn’t clear that Russia was going to stop in the Donbass. There was a lot of discussion in Moscow about taking half of Ukraine, for example, and so the imposition of sanctions in 2014 ostensibly changed Russia’s outlook on how far it would be willing to go into Ukraine.

Interestingly however, Russia continues to constantly bring up these sanctions in the context of Ukraine questions; this should suggest to the US that, despite their denials, Russia does want to keep some form of negotiations going. Through repeatedly complaining about these sanctions, Russia is able to keep coming to the table, even if all US and Russian diplomats seem do at that table thus far, is sit down without any progress on resolving the Ukraine question being made.

This isn’t the only occasion where its possible to observe Russia taking unexpected measures to gain international relevancy. A few decades ago, it would have been strange to associate Russia with places like Venezuela or in fact anywhere in Latin America. Same goes its recent efforts to increase its presence across Africa and the Middle East. Whether through military, mercantile or political ties, Russia has made itself impossible to completely ignore or exclude.

Putin himself has provoked much thought about the quality of communication at the proverbial table, particularly in reference to the organisation of NATO. In an interview with Oliver Stone, Putin said “We are concerned by the practice of how decisions are taken. I know how decisions are taken there. I remember one of our last meetings with President Clinton in Moscow. During the meeting I said we would consider an option that Russia might join NATO. Clinton said why not, but the US delegation got very nervous.”

There are many issues in which Russia’s contributions would not go unnoticed, such as fight against international terrorism, world poverty and even environmental deterioration. This, combined with the promise of sustainable, lasting security make up just part of the incentive for the Biden administration to get their approach to communicating with Russia correct. In dealing with Russia, “guardrails” will not suffice — the true test for Biden will be achieving quality diplomacy.