Russia accuses Biden of 'Russophobia', says they're 'not expecting anything good' from him

Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov on December 23 said that Moscow was not expecting “anything good” from US President-elect Joe Biden. In an interview with news agency Interfax, Ryabkov accused Biden’s administration of “Russophobia”. He also added that Biden threw mud at his country due to which Russia “definitely” doesn’t expect anything good. 

Ryabkov said, “We are definitely not expecting anything good. And it would be strange to expect good things from people, many of whom made their careers on Russophobia and throwing mud at my country”.

The interview was aired days after the US accused Russia of a major cyberattack on government agencies. Earlier this week, Biden had also said that the attack cannot go unanswered. He promised to retaliate once he takes office on January 20. 

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Ryabkov, on the other hand, said that Russia should move to a “total containment” approach in relations with the US, retaining “selective dialogue” on subjects that are of interest to Moscow. The Russian minister added that the Moscow would not initiate any contacts with Biden’s staff, and would also not make any “unilateral concessions”. Ryabkov said that if Washington continued approaching Russia as a “strategic rival” then Moscow would “treat them in a similar way”. 

Ryabkov went on to refer to the new US sanctions which were imposed on 45 Russian organisations over their military connections. He said that the going administration was trying to “loudly slam the door”. “We are going from bad to worse. This was very typical for the past four years and so far there is no feeling that this trend has outlived its usefulness,” he added. 

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‘US-Russia rivalry will continue’ 

Russia was one of the major subjects of contention between Joe Biden and incumbent Donald Trump during the presidential election campaign as both continued to call each other a stooge of Moscow. The United States intelligence community had warned ahead of the polls that Russia was trying hard to influence the election through malicious ways with some reports even claiming that the Russian state actors want Biden to lose. Russia allegedly interfered in the 2016 election as well, which saw Trump become the 45th US President. 

Earlier this month, a senior Russian lawmaker had also said that the rivalry between Washington and Moscow will continue even after US President-elect Joe Biden takes over in January. Konstantin Kosachev, the chairman of the foreign affairs committee in the Russian upper house, said there will be no breakthrough in the relationship between Russia and the US, adding that the military and political rivalry between both nations will continue even after Joe Biden assumes the presidency. He also added that he believes the United States will follow the same "America First" policy under Joe Biden and will continue to put Washington's interests above everyone else's, including allies and opponents.

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