Wide disagreements, low expectations as Putin, Biden arrive for summit
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[June 16, 2021]
By Steve Holland and Vladimir Soldatkin
GENEVA (Reuters) - U.S. President Joe Biden
and Russian President Vladimir Putin square up on Wednesday for their
first meeting since Biden took office with deep disagreements likely and
expectations low for any breakthroughs.
Both have said they hope their talks in a lakeside Geneva villa can lead
to more stable and predictable relations, even though they remain at
odds over everything from arms control and cyber-hacking to election
interference and Ukraine.
"We're not expecting a big set of deliverables out of this meeting," a
senior U.S. official told reporters, saying the two are expected to talk
for four or five hours starting at around 1.30 p.m. (1130 GMT).
Putin and Biden arrived at the summit venue early on Wednesday
afternoon.
"I'm not sure that any agreements will be reached," said Putin's foreign
policy adviser Yuri Ushakov.
Relations have deteriorated for years, notably with Russia's 2014
annexation of Crimea from Ukraine, its 2015 intervention in Syria and
U.S. charges - denied by Moscow - of its meddling in the 2016 election
that brought Donald Trump to the White House.
They sank further in March when Biden said he thought Putin was a
"killer", prompting Russia to recall its ambassador to Washington for
consultations. The United States recalled its ambassador in April.
The senior U.S. official said the United States was looking at "areas
where working together can advance our national interests and make the
world safer."
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said whether or not to send back
ambassadors would be decided by the two presidents. "Today the
presidents will need to determine how to proceed with the heads of the
diplomatic missions," Peskov was quoted as saying by Russian news
agencies.
While the issues may be vexing, the surroundings will be serene at Villa
La Grange, an elegant mansion set in a 30-hectare (nearly 75-acre) park
overlooking Lake Geneva.
LOCKDOWN
On Wednesday, the summit perimeter was under a tight lockdown with heavy
police presence. Following a their bilateral meeting, Biden and Putin
will continue on to their discussions with broader U.S. and Russian
delegations including U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Russian
Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, along with interpreters.
Arms control is one domain where progress has historically been possible
despite wider disagreements.
In February, Russia and the United States extended for five years the
New START treaty, which caps their deployed strategic nuclear warheads
and limits the land- and submarine-based missiles and bombers to deliver
them.
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Swiss President Guy Parmelin welcomes U.S. President Joe Biden as he
arrives at Villa La Grange for the U.S.-Russia summit in Geneva,
Switzerland, June 16, 2021. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse/Pool
The senior U.S. official said Biden would also define
areas of vital national interest where Russian misconduct would
bring a response. Biden signed an executive order in April giving
Washington wide latitude to impose sanctions on Moscow.
In a sign of the strained ties, the talks will not include any meals
and Putin and Biden are expected to hold separate news conferences
rather than a joint one.
"No breaking of bread," said the senior U.S. official.
Vladimir Frolov, a former Russian diplomat, told Reuters Putin
wanted respectful ties and to be treated like members of the Soviet
Politburo were in the 1960s-1980s, with "a symbolic recognition of
Russia's geopolitical parity with the U.S."
"In exchange, they (Moscow) would be willing to cut back on some of
the loony stuff," Frolov said, saying he meant "no poisonings, no
physical violence, no arrests/kidnappings of U.S. and Russian
nationals. No interference in domestic politics."
Dmitri Trenin, director of the Carnegie Moscow Center think tank,
set the bar for Wednesday's talks low.
"The principal takeaway, in the positive sense, from the Geneva
meeting would be making sure that the United States and Russia did
not come to blows physically, so that a military collision is
averted," he said.
In contrast to Trump, whose 2018 summit with Putin in Helsinki
included a meeting accompanied only by interpreters, Biden and Putin
are not expected to have any solo dealings.
Standing beside Putin in Helsinki, Trump refused to blame the
Russian leader for meddling in the 2016 U.S. election, casting doubt
on the findings of his own intelligence agencies and sparking a
storm of domestic criticism.
(Reporting By Steve Holland and Vladimir Soldatkin; Additional
reporting by Humeyra Pamuk and Stephanie Nebehay in Geneva, Tom
Balmforth and Andrew Osborn in Moscow; Writing by Arshad Mohammed in
Saint Paul, Minn.; Editing by Mary Milliken, Sonya Hepinstall and
Giles Elgood)
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