What We Learned From The Biden-Putin Meeting

The official meetings between both leaders today were broken into two rounds, one a smaller session and the second with larger delegations. The total run time came in shorter than the four to five hours officials initially predicted for the summit.

White House officials say they are not surprised by Vladimir Putin’s equivocal, denial-filled performance at his press conference, noting his language is unchanged from when he is pressed on issues of cybercrime, human rights and Ukraine.

President Joe Biden did not enter the talks believing he would magically be able to change Putin’s rhetoric, much less his behavior, an official says. They watched his press conference closely and took note of places where Biden might need to respond.

But they had some plans already in place given the expectation Putin would use his appearance to turn around and put questions on human rights back on the United States.

Russian President Vladimir Putin displayed his “classic” whataboutism play at the news conference after his meeting with US President Joe Biden concluded, former Top Russia Adviser to President Trump Fiona Hill said.

Hill said it was clear that Putin wanted to keep the tone “generally cordial.”

“There was no chest thumping about the meeting,” she added.

The big takeaway: Putin will not let up on the dirty tricks or on the whataboutism. This is at least a start to try to get some kind of anchor in the relationship to set the tone on the stage for other meetings.

After their talks were over, Russian President Vladimir Putin said his meeting with US President Joe Biden was “productive” on the whole.

“It was substantive, concrete and took place in an atmosphere that was aimed at achieving results,” he told reporters Wednesday in Geneva, Switzerland.

US President Joe Biden did not invite Vladimir Putin to the White House, the Russian president said Wednesday, saying the conditions have to be right for such a meeting.

Putin described the summit with Biden as “constructive.”

Putin again said he did not remember an encounter when Biden was vice-president a decade ago in which Biden reportedly said he looked into Putin’s eyes and saw no soul.

Asked Wednesday in Geneva about the Russian crackdown on Alexey Navalny’s organizations and supporters, Russian President Vladimir Putin responded by talking about the Black Lives Matter demonstrations across the United States and the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Wednesday that Alexey Navalny returned to Russia in order to be detained, knowing he had broken the law — again refusing to say the opposition activist’s name aloud.

Putin repeated the official Russian position that Navalny had violated bail conditions by going abroad while unconscious after apparent Novichok poisoning last year, and failing to check in with Russian legal officers as required.

“He consciously ignored the requirements of the law,” Putin said.

Putin continued: “The gentleman in question went abroad for treatment. As soon as he went to the hospital he showed his videos on the internet … He wanted consciously to break the law. He did exactly what he wanted to do. So what kind of discussion can we be having [about him]?”

The United States and Russia are going to begin consultations on cybersecurity, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Wednesday following his summit with US President Joe Biden.

“Both sides have to assume certain obligations there,” Putin said.

“We believe that the cyberspace is extraordinarily important. In general, and in particular for the US, and to the same extent for Russia,” Putin said in response to a question from CNN’s Matthew Chance.

Although Putin conceded that the United States was the victim of the greatest number of cyberattacks, he said that Russia was also a victim.

“We encounter this every year. For example, one of the health systems in a very important part of Russia was attacked. So, it means that this work is being coordinated,” Putin said. “In the US, I don’t think that the US administration is particularly interested in organizing that or looking into it. All they do is to make insinuations. What we need is expert consultations between us. We agreed to that, in principle, Russia is prepared for that.”

The US and Russian ambassadors will return to their diplomatic posts and take up their functions, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Wednesday in Geneva, Switzerland.

The question of when that would happen is a “purely technical one,” he said.