WASHINGTON \u2014 President Joe Biden on Thursday said the days of the U.S. \u201crolling over\u201d to Russian President Vladimir Putin are gone as he called for the immediate release of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
During his first visit to the State Department as president, Biden issued his strongest condemnation of Putin as large protests have broken out throughout Russia following the jailing of Navalny. Thousands of protesters have been arrested.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The new American president was also seeking to make clear to the world that he\u2019s making a dramatic turn away from Putin following the presidency of Republican Donald Trump, who avoided direct confrontation and often sought to downplay the Russian leader\u2019s malign actions<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Navalny, an anti-corruption campaigner and Putin\u2019s most determined political foe, was arrested Jan. 17 upon returning from a five-month convalescence in Germany from a nerve agent poisoning, which he has blamed on the Kremlin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI made it clear to President Putin, in a manner very different from my predecessor, that the days of the United States rolling over in the face of Russia\u2019s aggressive actions \u2014 interfering with our election, cyber attacks, poisoning its citizens\u2014 are over,\u201d said Biden, who last week spoke to Putin in what White House officials called a tense first exchange. \u201cWe will not hesitate to raise the cost on Russia and defend our vital interests and our people.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Biden\u2019s comments on Russia came as he asserted a broad reset of American foreign policy, including reversing Trump\u2019s order to withdraw U.S. troops<\/a> stationed in Germany, ending support for Saudi Arabia\u2019s military offensive in Yemen <\/a>and promising to support LBGTQ rights<\/a> as a cornerstone of diplomacy.<\/p>\n\n\n\t