President Biden declined to condemn Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin or detail anticipated goals ahead of the summit between the two leaders in Geneva later this week.
“The last thing I want to do is negotiate in front of the world press as I approach a critical meeting with an adversary and/or someone who could be an adversary,” said Biden when asked to clarify the White House’s meeting agenda.
Biden, who for years depicted Putin as an aggressor and dictator, used softer language when describing the Russian leader in Brussels on Monday evening.
“He’s bright, he’s tough, and I have found that he is — as they say when I used to play ball — a ‘worthy adversary.’”
Biden indicated that he’d be willing to share more after the meeting concluded. When asked if his meeting with Putin early in his presidency inspired any trepidation with international allies, Biden said that all of his conversations have been supportive.
“Every world leader here that’s a member of NATO … thanked me for meeting with Putin now. Every single one that spoke,” said Biden. “They thought it was thoroughly appropriate that I do.”
Pressures on Biden to condemn Putin and the Russian government continued to mount after multiple rounds of cyberattacks linked to Russian nations targeted critical parts of American infrastructure, including a major U.S. gasoline pipeline. After a round of cyberattacks in April, the Biden administration issued sanctions against over a dozen Russian individuals and entities linked with election interference. In conjunction, Biden signed an executive order enabling the U.S. to sanction parts of Russia’s economy at the U.S.’ own discretion.
Still, Biden faced criticism at the time for neglecting to press Putin during a phone call on the abuse and jailing of opposition leader Alexei Navalny.
Asked by a reporter how the U.S. would respond to continued abuse of Navalny that could end the opposition leader’s life, Biden indicated that he would not give Russia a free pass.
“Navalny’s death would be another indication that Russia has little or no intention of abiding by basic fundamental human rights,” he said. “It would be a tragedy and do nothing but hurt his relationships with the rest of the world, in my view, and with me.”
When asked about Putin laughing when a reporter brought up Biden calling him a “killer,” Biden replied, “I’m laughing, too.” Biden agreed with the assessment of Putin as a killer during a March interview, drawing a rebuke from the Kremlin.
“It’s not about trusting, it’s about agreeing,” Biden added on dealing with Putin. “When you write treaties with your adversaries ‘You don’t say I trust you,’ you say ‘This is what I expect and if you violate the agreement you made then the treaty’s off, the agreement’s off.’
Putin enjoyed a warm relationship with former President Donald Trump,who frequently complimented the Russian leaders. Following a meeting in Helsinki, Trump said he believed Putin and not U.S. intelligence agencies when it came to Russian interference in the 2016 election.
Trump defended the Helsinki summit in a statement last week and mocked his successor, saying, “Good luck to Biden in dealing with President Putin—don’t fall asleep during the meeting, and please give him my warmest regards!” During his press conference Biden decried what he called Trump’s “phony populism.”
Biden answered questions from the traveling press during the NATO summit in Belgium as part of his first international trip since taking office. The president began with a meeting of G7 leaders in Cornwall, England. Biden is set to return to Washington on Wednesday following his meeting with Putin.
____
Read more from Yahoo News:
-
Airline travel horror stories mount as Americans pack the not-so-friendly skies
-
California and much of the American West face mega-drought brought on by climate change
-
Yahoo News/YouGov poll: U.S. COVID worries fall to lowest level ever ahead of Memorial Day
-
Will face masks be a regular part of life post-pandemic?
