The telephone call between U.S. President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin lasted four hours according to the Guardian, 3.5 hours according to TASS. If you read the Guardian's article on the call you would think they spent four hours arguing over alleged Russian involvement in the ransomware cyberattack. By contrast the coverage in TASS of Biden’s comments on the call at a press conference seemed more upbeat.
Speaking to the press after the call, Biden said: “Well, I made it very clear to him that — that the United States expects, when a ransomware operation is coming from his soil, even though it’s not — not sponsored by the state, we expect them to act if we give them enough information to act on who that is.” This is an acknowledgment that the U.S. has provided no information on the attacks, simply demanding that Russia stop the hackers who are “likely” to be in Russia. The fact that cyber officials will be meeting will probably change that.
“And, secondly, that we have set up a means of communications now, on a regular basis, to be able to communicate to one another when each of us thinks something is happening in another country that affects the home country. And so, it went well. I’m optimistic….
Then a journalist asked about his promise that cyber attacks would entail “consequences” and asked whether those consequences would follow, Biden replied “Yes,” but gave no details, as he ended the signing remarks.
