Why the U.S. Should Worry About Russian and Chinese Ambition in the Arctic Washington is unprepared to meet the challenges posed by Moscow and Beijing. Russian ships of the Northern Fleet. (Photograph by Lev Fedoseyev\TASS via Getty Images) When Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov meet face-to-face for the first time in Reykjavik, Iceland, later this month, the pair will have no shortage of issues to sort through. Biden’s first months in office have embraced a markedly “tough on Russia” posturing—in rhetoric if not always in action—and the Kremlin has taken note. Moscow, meanwhile, has repeatedly tested the patience and resolve of the new administration through its cyberattacks targeting foreign entities, its widely condemned imprisonment of opposition leader Alexei Navalny, its attempted meddling in the November election, and its continued occupation of Crimea.