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Joe Biden warns Russia of devastating consequences if Alexei Navalny dies in prison
Joe Biden was addressing a press conference after the high-stake historic meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday.
United States President Joe Biden on Wednesday said there is no agenda against Russia but for the people of America shortly after he wrapped up the key summit with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Geneva.
Biden was addressing a press conference after the high-stake historic meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday. Biden says he told Putin he will always raise issues of 'fundamental human rights,' including Navalny, jailed Americans.
Pressing hard on human rights and making it a key highlight of his address, Biden said "human rights is always going to be on the table".
"How could I be the president of the United States and not speak out about human rights? It's not just about going after Russia, but it about who we are," Biden said.
On being asked about what happens if opposition leader and critic of Russian government Alexei Navalny dies, Biden warned of devastating consequences.
Biden said there is no substitute for face-to-face meeting between two leaders.
Biden underlined the discussions during his first summit with Putin as "positive", but warned his Russian counterpart that Washington would not tolerate interference in US democracy.
"The tone of the entire meeting... was good, positive," Biden told reporters after the summit in Geneva, stressing though that he "made it clear that we will not tolerate attempts to violate our democratic sovereignty or destabilise our democratic elections and we would respond."
On the other hand, Putin countered the conversation and defended Navalny's prison sentence. Deflecting repeated questions about mistreatment of Russian opposition leaders, Putin highlighted the domestic turmoil in the US, including the Black Lives Matter protests and the January 6 Capitol insurrection.
Marking a key development, the Russian President Putin, who addressed the reporters first among the two leaders said he and US President have agreed in a “constructive” summit to return ambassadors to their posts, lowering tensions and beginning consultations to replace the last remaining treaty between the two countries limiting nuclear weapons.
Putin said there was “no hostility” during the talks that wrapped up more quickly than expected.
Stretching for a little over three hours with just one break in between, the summit saw the two global leaders agreeing in principle to begin consultations on cybersecurity issues, even though Putin continued to deny US allegations that the Russian government was responsible for a spate of recent high-profile hacks against business and government agencies in the United States and around the globe.
The two sides had said they expected to meet for four to five hours but spent less than three hours together, including an opening meeting with just the two presidents and each one's top foreign aide.
Biden and Putin plunged into the face-to-face talks Wednesday at a lush lakeside Swiss mansion, a highly anticipated summit at a time when both leaders say relations between their countries are at a low point.
