The meeting of the US and Russian presidents Vladimir Putin and Joe Biden does not promise a breakthrough, but it may become a starting point for the reestablishment of cooperation between the two countries on different issues. Ahead of today's summit in Geneva, both sides expressed their readiness for dialogue.
This will be the first face-to-face meeting between Putin and Biden since the latter took office as president of the US in January 2021. By that time, relations between the two countries had long been in crisis.
"Our bilateral relations have degraded to the lowest level in years," the Russian leader said in an interview with the US NBC network. "I think he's right, that's the low point," Biden responded when asked to comment on these words by Putin.
Practical optimism
The Russian leader has previously expressed hope that the June 16 meeting in Geneva would be positive, but admitted that he does not expect "anything breakthrough in US-Russian relations."
Putin sees the goal of the upcoming summit as the restoration of contacts and the establishment of direct dialogue. According to him, strategic stability, regional conflicts, environmental issues and economic cooperation are the issues where the sides can effectively work. If the summit results in the creation of mechanisms of Russian-American cooperation in all these areas, then we will be able to consider that "the meeting was not in vain," Putin said in an interview with the Russia-1 television channel.
The US government also assumes that there will be "no major set of tangible results" from the summit, but the presidents may give a number of instructions based on the results of the meeting. "If you're expecting real significant results, you're probably going to have to wait a long time. The summit is an opportunity for the [US] president to tell the Russian president about our intentions and potential and to hear the same from the Russian side," American Presidential National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan told reporters earlier.
For his part, advisor to the President of Russia on foreign policy issues Yuri Ushakov said that both sides understand the need to "start clearing up these blockages" in bilateral relations. "I look at this meeting with practical optimism, but not with much," the Kremlin representative said.
The field of agreements
That said, according to the Russian presidential advisor, any agreements, if they can be reached at the summit, "will be of a compromising nature" and will benefit bilateral relations.
Biden also expressed the opinion that there are many areas in which Russia and the United States could constructively cooperate. According to US experts interviewed by TASS, arms control and strategic stability are among the main topics on which the leaders could reach some agreement.
"Our countries have enormous responsibilities, including ensuring strategic stability and maintaining arms control agreements," the US president said on June 9, speaking to the US military in Britain. - "I take that responsibility most seriously."
"Overprepared"
The US media has repeatedly questioned the White House in recent days about both the timeliness of the meeting and Biden's level of preparation for the talks. Even First Lady Jill Biden had to respond: "Oh, my God, he is overprepared". Already in Geneva on Tuesday night, the head of the White House himself confirmed similar confidence. "I'm always ready," Biden said when asked if he was ready for talks with Putin.
The administration assured him that the president would be sure to voice a full range of American concerns about Moscow's alleged misbehavior at the summit.
The head of the Oval Office was indeed preparing for the Geneva meeting throughout his European tour, discussing Russia on the margins of the G7, NATO and US-EU summits. Biden himself has repeatedly stressed that he is interested in stable and predictable US-Russian relations.
However, Washington has repeatedly stressed that it intends to cooperate where it is beneficial to the United States and, at the same time, to oppose Moscow's actions, which are allegedly damaging. It should also be borne in mind that the executive branch has to act with the eyes of Congress and make some decisions under pressure from both Democrats and Republicans.
About each other
Biden has in recent days characterized the Russian leader as a worthy adversary, a smart and tough politician. Asked why he thinks the Russian president has not changed course despite all the pressure from the United States, including sanctions, Biden replied, chuckling: "He's Vladimir Putin."
The Russian president, for his part, responding to a question about Biden, noted that he is a professional who has spent almost his entire conscious life in politics. "I very much expect <...> that we will observe certain rules of communication, that we will be able to agree on something and find some common ground," the Russian leader said.
Earlier in March, in an interview with ABC, Biden said that the Russian leadership will have to "pay the price" for what he calls Moscow's alleged attempts to meddle in the US election, and also said yes to whether he considers Putin a "killer. In his latest interview with NBC, Putin said that over the years he has become accustomed to being attacked by various parties, and that he is not surprised by them. "The people we work with and argue with in the international arena, we are not bride and groom, we do not swear eternal love and friendship to each other. We are partners and in some ways compete with each other," the Russian leader said.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Based on materials from TASS