It’s a hot day in Geneva. But it will not be heated between Presidents Biden and Putin. Both shake hands briefly, the subsequent conversations don’t last as long as expected. A first step towards rapprochement has been taken. But the deep distrust remains.
A quick handshake has to be enough. US President Biden is ready to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin. But he doesn’t want to offer him a too big stage. And Biden followed this course from the start, even when shaking hands in front of Villa La Grange on Lake Geneva. Both heads of state had previously been welcomed individually by Swiss President Guy Parmelin – Putin, the notorious late comer, first, and Biden wanted to avoid having to wait for him. When they then step in front of the numerous photographers and shake hands, Putin looks into the cameras. Biden, however, avoids that – his gaze stays on Putin before he turns to the villa and quickly ends the handshake.
Short and painless, that’s how the meeting goes. Instead of the announced four to five hours of work meetings, it ends after just three and a half hours. The two presidents have a small meeting behind them – only in the presence of the foreign ministers and interpreters – as well as a larger group of advisors and security experts. A joint press conference is not planned anyway, both answer questions one after the other, but spatially separated.
It was clear from the start that this would not be a meeting in a friendly atmosphere. Biden and Putin have already clearly expressed their mutual skepticism in advance: “killer” on the one hand, “career man” on the other. The flag decorations in Geneva cannot hide this – the city had to buy extra flags for this.
But the meeting is definitely a success for Putin. A photo from inside the meeting room shows both presidents in a venerable library, leather-bound books and a historical globe in the background. This is reminiscent of previous summits before the fall of the Iron Curtain, when the superpowers USA and Soviet Union more or less divided the world between themselves. A touch of old power – that should please Putin, even if the reality is different. “It’s not a meeting at eye level,” said Russia expert Sabine Fischer in an interview with ntv.de before the summit.
Mutual distrust runs deep
However, Biden neglects the arrogance of his former boss Barack Obama, who dismissed Russia as a regional power. Nevertheless, he finds clear words at his press conference. When it comes to the massive election interference and cyberattacks that the US accuses Russia of, the US president says that these have diminished the reputation of a country that is “desperately trying to maintain its status as a major world power”.
What about Putin? He appears before the press in front of Biden. He answers questions for a good hour and clearly enjoys it. It is also he who announces the only tangible result of the summit: the ambassadors of both countries are returning to their workplaces. The Kremlin had withdrawn its ambassador from the US because of Biden’s “killer” statement and later, after the US imposed sanctions, asked the US ambassador to leave the country. This minimum diplomatic exchange is now being restored. When exactly is unclear.
Many other conflict issues are addressed, but not resolved for the time being, and that wasn’t even expected. Talks are to follow in the coming months on arms control, cybersecurity, a possible prisoner exchange and other areas. Both states are looking for mechanisms to conduct the negotiations – and at the same time to maintain control. Mutual distrust runs deep.
“Spoken the same language”
This is particularly noticeable to Putin, who repeatedly answers critical questions from US journalists with sharp criticism of the USA. Russian cyber attacks on US government agencies? “Cyber attacks mainly come from US cyberspace,” says Putin. Human Rights and the Suppression of the Opposition? “Someone is killed on the streets of American cities every day,” says the Kremlin chief, referring to the violence against blacks. The condemnation of the oppositionist Alexei Navalny? He had broken the law and “was deliberately ready to be arrested”.
The Kremlin chief criticizes the still existing prison in Guantanamo and the storming of the US Capitol in January. “We don’t want to let that happen to us too,” he says. Putin’s remarks culminate in the sentence: “All actions connected with the deterioration in Russian-American relations came from the American side.” Putin may hit the right points with his criticism, but there are diversionary maneuvers, smoke candles. Because he doesn’t answer the questions put to him, he prefers to go on the offensive in order to keep the upper hand.
However, he is much more friendly about the conversations and about Biden. As a conversation partner, he was “very balanced, constructive, very experienced”. “I think we spoke the same language overall,” says the Kremlin chief. Such relationships are always pragmatic. And then it becomes poetic, speaking of the “dawn of trust” that is emerging in the relations between the two countries.
“There are no illusions
Meanwhile, Biden speaks about the fact that it was important to have had a personal conversation “so that there are no misunderstandings about what I want”. The tone of the whole meeting was “good, positive”. “There were no high-pitched actions. If we didn’t agree, we said so, but not in a heated atmosphere.”
The US president is pragmatic, he knows that he and Putin will no longer be friends: it is not about hugging or even loving each other. But it is neither in the interests of Russia nor the United States to be “in a situation in which we are in a new Cold War,” he said at his press conference. “It’s not about trust, but about self-interest and control over it.” Whether trust is justified must be checked.
However, he made it unmistakably clear that he would continue to address the human rights situation in Russia. “It’s not about attacking Russia when they violate human rights.” It is about defending democratic values. If Navalny dies, the consequences will be “devastating,” says Biden. And he had “made it clear to Putin that we have considerable cyber skills”.
Even if a cautious step has been taken, the Geneva summit shows that rapprochement between the two states remains a delicate plant. “There are no illusions and there can be none,” says Putin. The decisive factor is how things continue, says Biden. In six or twelve months he wants to take stock. Then it will show whether the arms control dialogue will bring anything, whether there has been an exchange of prisoners and whether there will be progress on the subject of cybersecurity. If that succeeds, there may be a longer handshake between the “career man” and the “killer”.
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