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GENEVA President Joe Biden on Wednesday traded the warm welcome of European allies for his first meeting at the head of state with Russian President Vladimir Putin, holding nearly four hours of talks at a time when relations between Washington and Moscow are arguably at their worst since the Cold War.
Noting the hype around the summit, Biden said he was outspoken about the Kremlins’ trampling on human rights and democracy. I told President Putin that my program was not against Russia or anyone else; it’s for the American people, Biden added at a post-summit press conference.
Biden said he spoke about the cases of two Americans imprisoned in Russia, as well as the crackdown inside Moscow on several foreign media outlets.
Biden spoke of Putin’s increasingly brazen efforts to weaken American democracy, including electoral interference, and the recent cyberattacks on American infrastructure that intelligence officials say is linked to Russia.
Ultimately, I said we had to have ground rules of the road that we could all follow, Biden said at his press conference, which began after the Russian leader spoke to reporters for about one hour.
It was important that we meet in person, Biden said, in order to avoid any misunderstanding. The tone was good, positive, no strident action was taken.
Putin said there was no hostility; quite the contrary at the top. We do not share the same positions in many areas, but I think both sides have shown a willingness to understand each other and find ways to bring our positions closer together.
He rejected the blame for the military build-up on the Ukrainian border and the imprisonment and death of opponents, and he spoke of mass shootings in the United States and accused the United States of human rights violations. man.
On the cyberattack accusations, Putin said of the United States: all they do is imply. He said he thought the United States was not really interested in getting to the bottom of this matter. Putin hailed Bidens’ moral values as attractive.
It is clear to me that we speak the same language. It certainly doesn’t mean we have to look each other in the eye and find a soul, he said, alluding to a 2011 reunion with Biden, then vice president. Biden said he looked into Putin’s eyes and told him, I don’t think you have a soul.
President Biden is a seasoned statesman, Putin told reporters. He is very different from President Trump.
Biden had called for a summit soon after taking office to address the deteriorating relationship between the two former global superpowers.
Putin’s military build-up along his country’s border with Ukraine following his annexation of Crimea in 2014 has sparked growing anxiety across Europe and the West. His imprisonment of opposition leader Alexei Navalny exposed the iron grip of autocratic Russian rulers on power and indifference to international standards that Biden is eager to reaffirm. Navalny, who called for peaceful protests, survived Russian nerve gas poisoning last year.
During his press conference, Putin introduced Navalny without speaking his name as part of an unauthorized opposition that takes foreign money and illegally calls for mass protests. He compared his opponents to those Americans who tried to take over the US Congress on January 6.
We sympathize with what is happening in the United States, but we don’t want it to happen in Russia, Putin said.
Biden and Putin opened the Geneva meeting with gestures of respect. Putin, known for his late arrivals meant to keep rivals waiting, parked in the driveway at the summit site first and earlier than expected.
Biden, whose armored limousine pulled up 15 minutes later at the front door of the quaint 18th-century villa, stood beside Putin when Swiss President Guy Parmelin greeted them. Biden was the first to reach out to shake Putin’s hand, later motioning for the Russian leader to enter the villa in front of him.
Inside, Biden thanked Putin ahead of the talks.
Like I said outside, it’s always better to meet face to face.
And in an aside that seemed to elevate Russia’s positioning on the world stage, Biden called the United States and Russia two great powers.
When a barely three American journalist walked into the room amid a physical melee with Russian journalists outside, asked Biden if he trusted Putin, he appeared to nod his head. But White House communications director Kate Bedingfield quickly tweeted to make it clear that the president wasn’t answering any questions very clearly, but was nodding in thanks to the press in general.
Interpreters were seated just behind the two leaders. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov sat to Putin’s left. Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken was seated to the right of Bidens.
The first session started at 1:45 am and ended an hour and a half later. Later, other collaborators joined an expanded meeting: National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland, US Ambassador to Russia John Sullivan, as well as the two leading experts. Russian National Security Council, Eric Green and Stergos Kaloudis.
The summit ended shortly after 5 p.m. and Biden left shortly after.
Biden, who had been preparing for the summit for weeks with Advisers Sullivan and Blinken, presented his message to Putin at a press conference on Monday after a day of meetings at NATO headquarters in Brussels. The president said he would offer Putin opportunities to work with the United States on issues of mutual concern such as arms control and climate change, but only if Russian hostilities abate.
I will make it clear to President Putin that there are areas where we can cooperate, if he wishes, Biden said. And if he chooses not to cooperate and acts as he has done in the past, when it comes to cybersecurity and certain other activities, then we will respond. We will respond in kind.
Biden also dismissed questions of whether he meets Putin whom he too soon called a worthy opponent in his presidency, noting that NATO allies who spoke to him consistently expressed their support.
To some extent, Bidens’ eagerness for the meeting reflected a desire to deal early on with Russian-related issues in a way that, if successful, would allow him to refocus his foreign policy on Indo-. Pacific and efforts to counter China. .
For Putin, the summit itself offered a major advantage, as the possibility of improving relations with the United States could indicate that Democratic leaders are ready to overcome tensions resulting from his forays into Ukraine and his interference in the United States. the American elections.
Privately, however, US officials had admitted that they had not planned any major breakthroughs.
The obvious tensions surrounding the reunion contrasted with the idyllic landscape of the summit site, a castle nestled in towering pines on the shores of Lake Geneva. The city, which hosted the 1985 summit where President Ronald Reagan and former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev first met, adorned bridges across the shimmering blue lake with alternative flags of the two countries.
Hundreds of journalists also descended on the city, drawn to a meeting with potential geopolitical ramifications.
Hours before the leaders arrived, several media posts on Twitter showed a large banner with a message for Putin from an overpass above the motorcade road. Poisoned Navalny … And still no investigation? How come President Putin? read the sign, which featured an image of Navalnys’ face. The Swiss police quickly dismantled it.
(Los Angeles Times editor Tracy Wilkinson contributed reporting from Washington.)
2021 Los Angeles Times. Visit latimes.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
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