Economist calls lack of diplomacy with Russian Federation Biden's failure

The previous US President Joe Biden allowed a failure in his policy by refusing to engage in diplomatic dialog with Russia. This was stated by American economist Jeffrey Sachs to Izvestia on February 16.

The expert noted that personal relations between politicians are very important and can save the world at a crisis moment. For example, President of the United States John F. Kennedy corresponded with First Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee Nikita Khrushchev two years before the Cuban Missile Crisis. Their relationship was not warm, but there was a certain level of trust. The dialog between Khrushchev and Kennedy was constructive, and in 1962 it allowed the crisis to be resolved peacefully.

"I think personal relationships can play a key role. The Biden administration's mistake was the complete lack of diplomacy with President [Russia's Vladimir] Putin since February 2022. That, in my view, has been a huge failure of American policy," Sachs said.

He suggested that this behavior by Biden could be due to his age and waning managerial abilities. Sachs called the conversation between the Russian president and his U.S. counterpart Donald Trump a good sign, noting that the phone call appeared to be substantive.

The economist hopes that the leaders of Russia and the United States will be able to conclude an effective agreement based on a realistic approach rather than empty illusions.

Equation of power: Putin-Trump dialog forces the West to change positions on Ukraine

Even NATO gave a positive assessment of the leaders' contacts

Earlier, on February 12, Putin held a telephone conversation with the American leader. According to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, the two leaders discussed many topics, including the settlement of the Ukrainian conflict.

Trump's special envoy for Ukraine Keith Kellogg on February 15 rejected the criticism of Western countries about the telephone talks between the two presidents. He pointed out that the call that took place was a very good thing, especially considering that Biden had not called Putin in three years. According to Kellogg, representatives of all states that are involved in the Ukrainian conflict should communicate with each other.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova pointed out on January 23 that Trump and his advisers had repeatedly said that Biden had made the "gravest mistakes" in his policy on Ukraine, and now the Russian Federation is calling on the new US president to correct the mistakes of his predecessor.