Yesterday, President Biden met with Russian President Vladimir Putin face to face in Geneva. This meeting was one of the most closely watched events of the President’s time in office so far. Heading into the meeting, President Biden had goals to confront Putin on things like nuclear arms, the treatment of Ukraine, the status of cyber attacks, the freeing of two U.S. Marines, upon other things. Let’s take a look at some of the key moments and takeaways from this summit.
Before the two leaders went inside, they were seen giving each other a firm handshake and tight smiles, followed by the taking of photos once inside. This would kick off the summit, which while expected to go 4–5 hours, actually lasted under 4 hours, coming in somewhere around the 3 and a half hour mark.
The talks began by discussing the recent cyber attacks that have been wreaking havoc on the United States over the past few weeks. The most notable of these attacks were the ones on the meat-producing company JBS and the Colonial Pipeline. President Biden said in his press conference later that he made it clear there were to be no more cyber attacks on the U.S. from Russian groups. He added in his press conference that he gave Putin a list of 16 entities. These 16 entities were said to be crucial to America’s infrastructure, and that they are not to be touched by ransomware attacks. The President also told Putin that if Russia does not take action to stifle these attacks, it would be America’s turn to respond with their own cyber capabilities in hand. Talks between the two countries are expected to continue, and there will likely be more to come later.
Another major issue that was discussed during the summit was the situation surrounding human rights in Russia. President Biden made it clear that human rights is going to be an ever-present topic moving forward saying, “Human rights is going to always be on the table, I told him,” adding, “It’s not about just going after Russia when they violate human rights. It’s about who we are. How could I be the president of the United States of America and not speak out against the violation of human rights?”
One of the major areas discussed when it came to this topic was the jailing and condition of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny. The President told Putin that Navalny’s death would not be in the best interests for Russia. In response, Putin later said that Navalny’s jailing is necessary to help avoid events such as the January 6 attack on the United States Capital. The other major talking point for human rights came in the form of Russia’s treatment of Ukraine, which Putin said was none of the United States’ business.
On the topic of Trevor Reed and Paul Whelan, the two U.S. Marines currently jailed in Russia, both leaders said that negotiations could occur that would allow both men to return home. However, the White House noted separately some apprehension surrounding these negotiations. They believe that it could lead to the Kremlin unfairly targeting other Americans, which the White House believes they did to Reed and Whelan in the first place. With that being said, Putin stated in his conference later that Russia’s Foreign Ministry and the U.S. State Department would try to work out some sort of deal.
As far as other topics were concerned, Putin would not speak to things such as election interference or press freedoms, and the feeling from President Biden was that there wasn’t much to agree on in those areas. There was progress made in two other areas, however. Firstly, the two countries will be starting what they are calling strategic stability talks when it comes to the nuclear arms situation. The other topic that saw some success was the returning of ambassadors to the two countries, meaning that America’s ambassador will return to Russia, and Russia’s will head to the United States. This is something that had been paused back in April when President Biden put sanctions in place on Russian leaders and expelled Russian diplomats from the U.s. due to the concerns of election interference and cyber attacks.
Overall the summit seemed to be thought of as a success. It was widely believed that any kind of progress between the two leaders would make for a successful meeting. Both leaders had actually agreed that relations between the countries had reached a low point during the Trump era. During his conference after the meeting, Putin said that President Biden is “a very balanced, professional man.” During his press conference, President Biden stated, “I did what I came to do.”
Despite these signs of optimism, there are still many concerns on where things will go from here, and both leaders are still measuring each other up to see where they can agree and work together, as well as where they won’t be able to find common ground. Both leaders were asked if they trusted one another during their respective post-summit conferences. Neither of them gave any indication that something resembling trust existed just yet. Only time will tell. President Biden also made it very clear that he didn’t really feel like he changed Putin’s mind about any of the major issues he brought to the table, however, having the talks was a sign of progress itself.
As a whole, things seemed to go as smoothly as anyone could have predicted. The only bump in the road was when a reporter had asked President Biden why he had been so confident that Putin would change his behavior during this summit. The president shot back by saying, “I’m not confident he’ll change his behavior. What the hell — what do you do all the time? When did I say I was confident?”
He later apologized for his outburst before boarding his flight back to the United States.
This meeting between President Biden and Putin in Geneva has already been labeled numerous times as historic, and it was indeed a major event in the global political world. Now we will have to see where those talks will lead. There are already multiple sets of discussions set to begin as a result of the meeting, which means that there will be more to come in all of this. If you want to stay updated with everything that results from this summit, then make sure to follow our articles here and follow us on twitter for up to date and breaking news updates.
