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Joe Biden, Vladimir Putin face off in Geneva
Biden is seeking to restore European ties that were strained under former president Donald Trump, who dismissed the value of Nato and other US alliances and sought out Putin.
Buoyed by days of partnership-building sessions with allies, US Joe Biden arrived in Geneva on Tuesday for the most tense part of his first European tour as president - talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Biden is seeking to restore European ties that were strained under former president Donald Trump, who dismissed the value of Nato and other US alliances and sought out Putin.
Biden this week held long days of meetings with leaders at G7, Nato and US-EU summits, where he secured joint communiques expressing concern over Russia and China, and then helped preside over a breakthrough agreement easing a US trade dispute with Europe.
Biden’s Wednesday meeting with Putin is his most highly anticipated. He has called Putin a “worthy adversary” and has said he is hoping to find areas of cooperation. But he’s also warned if Russia continues its cyberattacks, “we will respond in kind”.
According to an administration official granted anonymity to disclose internal discussions, Biden is hoping to find some areas of agreement with Putin, including returning envoys back to Washington and Moscow. Both countries are now without a senior diplomat.
Before Biden left Brussels, US officials announced a major breakthrough with the European Union in a 17-year trade dispute centered on rival subsidies for aircraft manufacturers.
The two sides reached terms on how much of a government subsidy each can provide for its aircraft manufacturing giant - Boeing in the US and Airbus in the EU. The announcement came as Biden met European Council president Charles Michel and European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen.
