More than once on Wednesday, as Biden described his meeting with Putin, he tried to make it sound like he was doing the Russian leader a favor by simply giving him some good advice
U.S. President Joe Biden and Russia's President Vladimir Putin meet on June 16, 2021 in Geneva, Switzerland. | Denis Balibouse - Pool/Keystone via Getty ImagesMore than once on Wednesday, as President Joe Biden described his meeting with Vladimir Putin, he tried to make it sound like he was doing the Russian leader a favor by simply giving him some good advice.
Whether Putin will follow Biden’s advice is far from clear, as is the true impact of Wednesday’s much-hyped summit between the two leaders. Both men used words like “constructive” and “positive” to describe the roughly four-hour gathering. But, as expected, little emerged from the talks — at least as far as was conveyed to the public — except agreements to keep talking about issues ranging from nuclear weapons to the war in Ukraine.
The meeting began with hand shakes, brief smiles and poses for the cameras before the doors were closed for the private sessions. Afterward, Putin held a news conference first, followed by a separate one from Biden.— drawn from everything from the energy sector to water systems — that should be off limits to cyberattacks.
But when reporters pressed Putin on alleged Russian cyber campaigns against the United States, he largely deflected the questions, claiming that America was the world’s top source of cyberattacks. It was a typical Putin tactic,Putin was also pushed on human rights in Russia, where he is accused of cracking down on political opponents. Russia’s most prominent opposition leader, Alexei Navalny, is currently in prison after having survived a poisoning alleged to be the work of the Kremlin.
Biden, meanwhile, played up Putin's agreement to a "bilateral Strategic Stability Dialogue." Those future discussions are intended to "lay the groundwork for future arms control and risk reduction measures," according to a joint statement from Biden and Putin released by the White House. “Strategic stability” typically refers to nuclear arms control issues.
Asked about Putin’s mention of the Jan. 6 rioters, Biden dismissed the idea that there was any equivalence. “My response is what I communicated, and that's a ridiculous comparison,” Biden said, arguing that the rioters damaged the Capitol and caused the death of a security official.
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