Putin Thanks Biden for Inviting Him Back Center Stage
LONDON—Autocrats just hate to be ignored.
And so, President Vladimir Putin had been reveling in his starring role in President Biden’s first international trip.
In the build-up to the summit, the Russian media emphasized the fact that it was Biden who asked Putin for the meeting in Geneva, Switzerland. In other words, it was the American who was inviting Russia back onto center stage.
And sure enough, the first words Putin said to Biden were: “Mr. President, I’d like to thank you for your initiative to meet today.”
Putin has reason to be pleased, even President Trump didn’t agree to meet him in person until 18 months into his administration. Biden also phoned Putin within a week of entering the White House.
The driving force of Putin’s entire presidency has been returning Russia to global prominence after the economic and political ruin that followed the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Biden has been playing along, and hopes that showing respect can help to ease tensions with Russia at a time when he is trying to focus on the growing threat from China. He told Putin on Wednesday as they clasped hands in front of the world’s media that it was “always better to meet face to face.”
The U.S. president appeared to look Putin directly in the eye as the men shook hands. The Russian president looked away first, turning towards the press pool with a wave before both men disappeared inside the villa Parc de la Grange, a stunning 18th-century chateau overlooking Lake Geneva.
They were expected to hold talks for a grueling four or five hours before re-emerging to hold separate press conferences.
The leaders didn’t say much in front of the cameras—ignoring shouted questions from journalists—but the agenda behind closed doors is expected to include aggression towards Ukraine, cyber security, and the Middle East, where Biden has hinted he will offer to help Russia.
Moscow has signaled that one of its top priorities is potential prisoner swaps, with one Kremlin insider telling The Daily Beast that Putin would be willing to release Paul Whelan, an American civilian who was sentenced to six years in prison for spying, in exchange for a high-value Russian inmate in the U.S. such as Victor Bout, an arms dealer known as the “Merchant of Death.”
Putin’s Prison Swap Offer Could Free This Jailed American
The summit with Putin is the final stop on Biden’s whirlwind re-introduction to international diplomacy.
Pre-trip the White House was at pains to point out that the mission of this week on the road was simply to tell the world that the U.S. was back after the aberration of the Trump presidency but that was not the full picture.
Seemingly at every turn, Biden has sought to ratchet up the pressure on Beijing. It is now clear that the real aim of a diplomatic hot step that stretched from the G7 to NATO and the EU was to remind President Xi Jinping that not only is the U.S. back on the world stage—it’s back with more powerful allies than China could ever muster.
Behind the scenes, Biden encountered more push back than he may have expected on this effort, and some of his partners—particularly the Europeans—began backsliding from statements of solidarity almost as soon as they left the room.
There is a deep reluctance to attack China in many capitals outside the U.S. The fact that Biden succeeded in getting the other leaders to sign up to his position against their better judgment, may reflect his history as a dealmaker that was honed over decades in the Senate. It may be a promising sign with more tough negotiations looming in the near future, including the U.N. Climate Change Summit, which will be held in Scotland in November.
His first big test is a four-hour showdown with Putin.
Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast here
Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!
Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.
