US President Joe Biden (78) has also used his European tour intensively since Wednesday to prepare for the summit meeting with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin (68). Biden, so it is said from those around the US President, wants to avoid the pitfalls his predecessors got caught in during showdowns with Russia’s strong man.
On Wednesday, two rounds of talks between Biden and Putin will be held at the Geneva summit – one in a narrow circle, one with an extended staff. Biden will send “some pretty tough messages” to Putin, as British Prime Minister Boris Johnson (56) announced after his talks with the US President. This is also an indication that Biden and Johnson have been talking intensively about Putin over the past few days.
According to reports from White House circles, Biden used every free minute on the sidelines of the summit meetings on his trip to Europe for discussions with his closest staff and high-ranking government members, including Foreign Minister Antony Blinken (59) and Jake Sullivan (44), his national security advisor.
Insider tips from world leaders
The US president has also asked G7 heads of state and government who have already held talks with Putin on how to prepare for the meeting in Geneva for advice. In particular, Johnson and the German Chancellor Angela Merkel (66) are said to have given him valuable tips on how to talk and how to behave.
Putin is said to have even spoken of during Biden’s tea with Queen Elizabeth II (95) at Windsor Castle. The Queen had already received Putin on a state visit to Great Britain in June 2003, but she wanted to “know more” about the Russian President, as Biden told journalists.
Biden will sit opposite Putin with the complete support and solidarity of all NATO members: “Every world leader who is a member of NATO has thanked me for meeting Putin now,” said Biden on Monday on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Brussels . “Every single one.” They had thanked him for being ready to meet Putin and also to touch hot iron with him.
Biden is not planning a press conference
“He’s over-prepared!” Biden’s wife Jill (7) yelled last week when she was asked if her husband was ready for his meeting with Putin. Biden is thus prepared for Putin’s usual tactics and habit of turning the tables on discussions of Russia’s bad practices and in return blaming the United States.
According to CNN, Biden does not plan to hold a joint press conference with Putin after the summit. Accordingly, Russia has pushed for a joint press conference, but the Americans are waving their hand. You do not want to give Putin a platform like after his Helsinki summit in July 2018 with the then US President Donald Trump (75). At the time, the two presidents commented on Russia’s alleged interference in the US elections in 2016. Trump supported Putin. He believes the Russian President rather than his own secret services.
In his own words, Biden does not want an open exchange of blows in front of the cameras. On Sunday, he said the summit was “not a competition about who can do better before a press conference or try to embarrass each other”.
Wide range of conversations
The range of topics that Biden wants to address with Putin ranges from cyber attacks to Syria to Ukraine. Afghanistan, the Iran nuclear deal and the nuclear arsenal of both states should also be discussed. Mutual relations are at their lowest point in years, as both presidents have just admitted. No dramatic breakthrough is expected in Geneva, but a baseline is set and communication between Moscow and Washington improved.