U.S. President Joe Biden made his first address to a joint session of Congress on Wednesday night, April 28. According to Biden’s remarks, published by the press service of the White House, Mr. President touched upon the Russian issue and said the Russian actions have consequences.
“No responsible American president can remain silent when basic human rights are violated. A president has to represent the essence of our country… With regard to Russia, I made very clear to President Putin that while we don’t seek escalation, their actions have consequences. I responded in a direct and proportionate way to Russia’s interference in our elections and cyberattacks on our government and businesses – and they did both of those things and I did respond,” Biden said.
However, the U.S. President did mention that the United States can cooperate with the Russian Federation when “it’s in our mutual interests”.
“But we can also cooperate when it’s in our mutual interests. As we did when we extended the New START Treaty on nuclear arms – and as we’re working to do on the climate crisis,” Biden stated.