In The first meeting of the Presidents of Russia and the United States, Vladimir Putin and Joe Biden, took place in Geneva on Wednesday. The main thing about the negotiations-in the material of RBC
Vladimir Putin and Joe Biden
Results of the meeting
Following the talks, Putin and Biden adopted a joint statement, its text is available on the Kremlin’s website. It is dedicated to strategic arms control: “Today we reaffirm our commitment to the principle that there can be no winners in a nuclear war and it should never be unleashed.” The countries intend to launch a comprehensive bilateral dialogue on this issue.
As expected, the presidents did not hold a joint press conference.
Putin was the first to address the journalists. Here’s what he said:
- Russia and the United States agreed to return their ambassadors to Moscow and Washington (Russian Ambassador Anatoly Antonov left for Moscow “for consultations” in March, American Ambassador John Sullivan with the same wording in April.& mdash; < em>RBC).
- Relations between the two countries have accumulated a lot of blockages, but the parties are determined to find solutions.
- Putin believes that there was no hostility in the negotiations: “There was no pressure from either side. <..."The meeting was specific, substantive."
- About Russians and Americans imprisoned in prisons: “Certain compromises can be found. The Russian Foreign Ministry and the US State Department will work in this direction.
- About the harsh statements (in March, an ABC News reporter asked in an interview if Biden considered Putin a murderer, he replied: “Mmm, yes”): “We all know these statements, after that President Biden called me, we explained, these explanations satisfied me. He offered to meet me. I was once again convinced that President Biden is a very experienced person. We are withthey talked face-to-face for almost two hours. His predecessor avoided such a question, the current president decided to answer in this way. In principle, everything that happens in our countries is the responsibility of the political leadership. In the United States, someone is killed every day. Before you can say a word, they shoot you in the chest or in the back.”
- About Alexei Navalny: “I assume that he deliberately went to the point of being detained. He did what he wanted to do. Unfortunately, the format of the press conference does not allow us to speak in detail. I think I won’t say anything complicated.”
- About the level of mutual understanding and trust between Russia and the United States: “Leo Tolstoy once said that there is no happiness in life, there is only a lightning bolt of it, cherish it. <..."His lightning flashes, I think, flashed by."
- On the predictability of Russia’s behavior for the West: “We behave absolutely adequately to the threats that arise for us. It is necessary to agree on the rules of conduct.
According to CNN, Biden and his aides “closely watched” Putin’s briefing. And here’s what Biden himself told reporters.
- The atmosphere of the meeting with Putin was “good and positive,” Biden said. In his opinion, the last thing Putin wants is a cold war. And whether the presidents were able to agree on anything will be judged in six months, when it becomes clear whether the parties have made decisions or not.
- On doing business and investing in the Russian economy: Biden suggested that Putin release businessman Michael Calvey: “If you want American businessmen to invest in Russia, let him go free, change the dynamics of the situation.” He noted that there are no problems with conducting trade relations withRussia, but it must adhere to international norms (the founder of the Baring Vostok investment fund, Michael Calvey, was detained in 2019, first he was accused of fraud, and then of embezzlement. He was released from house arrest in November 2020, and now there is a preventive measure in the form of a ban on certain actions.& mdash; < em>RBC).
- On cyberattacks: Biden said that cyberattacks should not be carried out on critical infrastructure. “We agreed to instruct them to work out which targets should not be subject to cyber attacks.” But if the agreements are violated, the United States will respond, the president promised.
Expert ratings
The agreements reached as a result of the negotiations are a success rather than a failure, the Director General of the Russian International Affairs Council (RIAC) told RBC) Andrey Kortunov. “Of course, the parties could have reached more serious agreements, for example, on the full restoration of the number of embassies. However, the return of the ambassadors can be considered the firsta positive step, ” he said. According to Kortunov, if the United States and Russia create a working group on cybersecurity, it will be an achievement for Moscow. “This is something that Russia has been fighting for since the first meeting between Putin and Trump in Hamburg [in 2017], but then the American side disavowed the preliminary agreement on working within this topic,” the analyst said.
Kortunov called the presidential statement on strategic stability a “good sign”. “Experts and the public put pressure on the leaders of both countries [to make such a statement], and it is good that our expectations about the declarations on the inadmissibility of nuclear war and the dialogue on strategic stability were met,” the expert concluded.
Both presidents should be satisfied with the outcome of the meeting, according to a researcher at the American Institute for Foreign Policy Research (FPRI) Maximilian Hess. “Biden has demonstrated that he is capable of serious negotiations with world leaders and, hopefully, has reduced the potential for new destabilizing actions on the part of Russia. For his part, Putin has ironed out concerns about tough sanctions against Moscow, including over election meddling-at least in the near term, an analyst told RBC.
According to Hess, the meeting between Putin and Biden left a sense of understatement on two topics. The first concerns regional issues, including the conflict in Ukraine and Syria. The second topic is cybersecurity. “If the parties manage to develop an approach to de-escalation in these areas, it can be considered a serious help for Washington, butI can’t imagine what the US could give in return to Putin to solve these problems, ” the expert said. As Hess noted, further conflicts between the United States and Russia due to regional conflicts or threats in cyberspace can negate the positive mood in relations that arose after the meeting of the leaders.
How was the meeting
- The meeting started at about 14: 30 Moscow time and lasted about four hours. The first part was held in a narrow format (in addition to the presidents, it was attended by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken), the second-in an expanded format.
- President Putin, on his first international visit in a year and a half, was punctual-he arrived, as planned, at the start of the summit. Joe Biden arrived in Geneva the day before from Brussels and spent the night at the local hotel “Intercontinental”.
- Vladimir Putin was the first of the guests to arrive at the Villa La Grange, where the negotiations are taking place, in a cavalcade of Aurus limousines. Behind him in almost a quarter of an hour-Biden. At the villa, the Presidents were met by their Swiss counterpart Guy Parmelin. He first went inside the building, then together with Parmelin and Putin went out on the porch. The Swiss president wished the guests good luck, after which they went to the meeting room. Putin thanked Biden for the initiative of today’s meeting. “As I said outside, it’s always better to meet face-to-face,” Biden said.
- The conversation of the presidents began in the library, which is considered the best book collection in Geneva, the oldest volumes in it date back to the XV century. The presidents, obviously, are not up to books today. Before the summit, both Putin and Biden acknowledged that relations between the two countries had reached the worst level in history.
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The Presidents are accompanied by delegations. Among the representatives of Russia, except for Lavrov:
- presidential Aide Yuri Ushakov;
- presidential press Secretary Dmitry Peskov;
- Russian Ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov;
- Head of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov;
- Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov (also supervises relations with the United States);
- deputy head of the Presidential Administration Dmitry Kozak (supervises Ukrainian issues);
- Special Representative for the Syrian settlement Alexander Lavrentiev.
How Switzerland prepared for the summit
Villa La Grange in Geneva, which was the venue for the first face-to-face meeting between Vladimir Putin and Joe Biden in the rank of president, was surrounded by barbed wire. Military equipment was displayed on the embankment, and police squads were reinforced. In the city center, the meeting was witnessed by the flags of Russia and the United States, installed on the Mont Blanc Bridge, and numerous executive cars.classes that serve delegations. Russian officials arrived in Geneva for two days. On Tuesday, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov, Special Presidential Envoy for Syria Alexander Lavrentiev and several dozen journalists arrived. Everyone, without exception, had to take tests for the coronavirus more than once.
How did Russia and the United States approach the summit
- Four days before the meeting, Putin said that relations between Russia and the United States had ” sunk to the lowest point in recent years.” Biden agreed with the Russian president’s point of view and added that the future of relations between the two states depends on whether Russia follows “in accordance with international norms”. The White House explained that the meeting of the two presidents is being held due to disagreements and “hostile relations”.
- Since Biden took office, both Russia and the United States have expelled ten diplomats, and the ambassadors of the states have returned to their capitals. Russia has added the United States to the list of unfriendly countries and banned the embassy from hiring Russians, which has reduced its staff by 75%, and Russians can now get immigration visas only in the case of a question of “life and death”.
- According to Lavrov, the Russian side “does not have any inflated expectations, illusions that some “breakthroughs” are coming. At the same time, there is a need for an exchange of views on what threats Russia and the United States see at the highest level as the two largest nuclear powers in the international arena.
- The White House hopes that the presidents ‘talks will help” find a way forward”.
- According to Peskov, the US rhetoric in favor of dialogue before the meeting of the leaders of the countries “added positive”. “But at the same time, there are still notes in favor of the fact that we need to talk to Moscow through deterrence, through pressure,” Peskov said.