Russia offers response to Biden on human rights

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu announced Monday Russia will deploy an additional 20 military units on the country's western border with NATO by year's end, and Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said Washington could expect an array of "uncomfortable" signals in the coming days.

Both the US and Russia are gearing up for a summit between the two countries' leaders, Joseph Biden and Vladimir Putin, next month on June 16 in Geneva.

Shoigu said: "The actions of our Western colleagues are destroying the world's security system" at a meeting of top Russian military officials.

He cited an increase in US and NATO activities near Russia as a source of grievance, including more US strategic bomber sorties as well as NATO naval deployments and an uptick in drills during the busy summer military exercise season. 

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, speaking at a press conference Monday, said: "Russia has been willing to use military force against neighbors," such as Georgia and Ukraine. He added that this is "why we have increased readiness and deployed battle groups" to the Baltic states.
 
NATO is a "defensive alliance," Stoltenberg said, adding that the alliance strives to maintain "credible deterrence and defense" as well as "dialogue" with Russia, which is "important to manage a difficult relationship".

Why does Russia feel the need to saber-rattle now?

Biden said Sunday that he planned to press the Russian leader on human rights issues in Russia.

The state news agency Interfax reports that Russia is "ready to answer all questions regarding human rights." However, the news agency noted that the Russian and US agendas for the Putin-Biden summit are not the same.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told reporters Monday that Russia was monitoring what he termed the "persecution" of the insurrectionists involved in the January 6 US Capitol riots in support of Biden's predecessor, Donald Trump. Lavrov sought to frame his argument as the "protection of opposition rights."

Ryabkov said Russia had shown greater flexibility in crafting the agenda for the Geneva summit than Washington.

There are many reasons for the strained relations between the US and Russia at present.

Most recently, the Kremlin's jailing of critic and opposition politician Alexei Navalny, Russia's military buildup near Ukraine's border, and charges of election interference have drawn Washington's ire.

Last weekend, Putin met with Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko in Sochi after Lukashenko angered EU member states by diverting a Ryanair flight traveling between Athens, Greece, and the Lithuanian capital, Vilnius, in order to arrest an opposition dissident journalist in exile, Raman Pratasevich, and his Russian national girlfriend, Sofia Sapega.

ar/csb (AFP, AP, Interfax, Reuters)