Pushing 78-year-old President Joe Biden to retaliate for recent ransomware attacks against IT companies, the press seems inclined to war with the Russian Federation. When Biden met with 68-year-old Russian President Vladimir Putin in Geneva June 16, U.S.-Russian relations were at Cold War lows.. Back then, the U.S. and Russia faced off in the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, but there was less talk of war. Today’s situation with Russian-based cyber attacks shutting down the Colonial Pipeline and JBS meatpacking, Russian-based cyber criminals attacked key U.S. infrastructure. Biden and Putin promised in Geneva to work together to solve common problems, including working on climate change. But key foreign policy differences exist between Russia and the U.S. especially over Ukraine. Ukraine has lobbied Washington to push for NATO membership, a red line for Putin.
After signing an executive order today on the U.S. economy, Biden was asked if he planned to retaliate against Russia for recent cyber attacks. Asked “if there will be consequences,” for recent Russian-based cyber attacks, Biden, said, “yes.” Speaking with Putin today by telephone, Biden asked Putin to make good on his commitment to deal with cyber pirates on Russian soil, seeking to blackmail companies with what’s called ransomware, viruses coded to disrupt key U.S. infrastructure, like energy, meatpacking and now the IT industry. “I made it very clear to Russian President Vladimir Putin that the United States expects when ransomware operation is coming from his soil, even though it’s not sponsored by the state, we expect him to act and give us enough information to act on who that is,” Biden said. Whether Putin does anything to help purge Russian cyber gangs.
Encouraging Biden to slap Putin with more sanctions pushed the U.S. and Russia to the brink. Journalists don’t know the consequences for Biden holding Putin accountable for Russian-based hacking when REvil cyber gangs operate in different locations, not jus the Russian Federation. “Secondly, we have set up a means of communication no on a regular basis with one another, when each of us thinking something’s happening in another country, it affects the home country. And so, it went well. I’m optimistic,” Biden said, trying to tell the press to stop pushing him to sanction the Kremlin. Recent war games hosted by the U.S. and Ukraine haven’t helped the security situation between Moscow and Washington. Hitting Moscow with more sanctions would undo all the good will in Geneva, where Putin committed to improving U.S.-Russian relations.
U.S. elected officials on both sides of the aisle want Putin to do more to stop ransomware attacks originating on U.S. soil. If the U.S. wants Putin to cooperate on hot spots around the globe, including in Syria, Iran, North Korea and Ukraine, Biden needs to continue cooperating with Putin, not threaten him with more sanctions. “President Biden also spoke with President Putin about the ongoing ransomware attack by criminals based in Russia that have r impacted the United States and other countries around the world,” the White House wrote. Hounded by the press and members of Congress to retaliate against Moscow for ranssomware attacks, Biden has trouble dealing with an angry press looking for revenge against Russia. Biden’s in no place to deploy the U.S. military in any operation to disrupt ransomware attacks, primarily because the U.S. isn’t certain where the cyber attacks originated. Elected officials and the press think Putin can throw a switch and stop the cyber attacks.
Biden’s Geneva summit defused tensions between the two nuclear superpowers, leaving both countries looking for common ground. If the U.S. wants Russia to show more flexibility in Ukraine they need to stop holding joint military exercises with the Ukrainian military. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, 43, begs NATO Secretary-General Jens Stotenberg for NATO membership. Putin said any attempt by NATO to interfere in Ukraine would be met with a strong military response, possibly annexing the Donbass region of eastern Ukraine. Zelensky was upset that Stoltenberg did not grant him NATO membership, knowing that it would likely suck the U.S. into a war with the Russian Federation. No one in NATO or the European Union [EU] want a military confrontation with Putin, especially knowing the EU buys some 40% of its energy from Moscow. Biden’s attempt to work on cooperation with the Russian Federation helps U.S. national security.
Washington needs to accept that there are bad guys in the world capable of disrupting U.S.-Russian relations, even pushing the two superpowers to a nuclear war. Biden did a good job of defusing tensions in Geneva, despite attempts from lawmakers and the press to push the situation to the brink. Demanding sanctions now would practically guarantee that the U.S. will eventually meet on the battlefield. “President Biden underscored the need for Russia to take action to disrupt ransomware groups operation in Russia and emphasized that he is committed to continued engagement on the broader threat posed by rarnsomware,” said White Press Secretary Jen Psaki. Whatever happens with criminal gangs in Russia, it’s going to take time for Putin to put his thumb on ransomware criminals. Like Biden, Putin can only do so much to rid his country of criminal gangs.
