The summit between Russian President Putin and US President Biden has begun in Geneva. Both world leaders were received by Swiss President Parmelin at a villa on Lake Geneva. He wished the two men luck in their conversation. Putin and Biden made no prior statement, but did shake hands.
It is not clear how long the two men will talk to each other. According to the Americans, the conversation can last 4 to 5 hours. Both camps have said in advance that no groundbreaking agreements should be expected.
Relationship at rock bottom
Nevertheless, the summit has been looked forward to for months, because of the poor relationship between the two countries. Biden accuses the Russians of major cyber attacks on American companies and (government) institutions and blames Moscow for attempts to undermine American democracy. Putin, in turn, believes that the Americans should not lecture him about democracy, citing the storming of the Capitol in January.
Either way it won’t be a friendly conversation thinks Russia correspondent Iris de Graaf. “No one expects them to forgive each other.” Biden says he is not out for conflict, says US correspondent Lucas Waagmeester. “But he is willing to hit back. The goal is not to change Russia, but to arrive at a predictable relationship.”
Nieuwsuur made this reconstruction of the course of the Russian-American relationship under Putin:
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