US – Russia summit in Geneva on June 16, Biden to meet Putin

“President Biden will meet with President Putin in Geneva, Switzerland on June 16, 2021. The leaders will discuss the full range of pressing issues, as we seek to restore predictability and stability to the U.S.-Russia relationship.” The meeting venue and date between the leaders was confirmed  in a statement by White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki on the Meeting Between President Joe Biden and President Vladimir Putin of Russia.

The White House does not want Biden to be  seeking a “reset” in relations with Putin and U.S. officials see a face-to-face as an opportunity to rebalance the relationship away from what they see as former President Donald Trump’s fawning overtures to Putin. For the Kremlin, Russian officials see the summit as important to hear from Biden directly since the Russian government feels mixed messages emanate from the new U.S. administration with no direction. The relations between the traditional rivals has been on the decline as US wants Russia to stop meddling in their elections, control cyberattacks originating from Russia and to stop crackdown on opposition party leaders while Russia does not approve of US support to Navalny, opposition to Nord Stream 2 pipeline and US sanctions on Russian leaders / citizens. On most of the geopolitical issues, be it Afghanistan Peace process, Indo Pacific or Israel Palestine issue, US and Russia is yet to find a common ground.

The Belarus issue is also a bone of contention between the two countries and US has been supporting the pro democratic activists in Belarus against Russia’s wishes. The latest incident of forced landing of Ryanair flight in Minsk and arrest of onboard passenger drew sharp reaction from US President. The White House statement said, “I applaud the courage and determination of Belarusians fighting for basic rights, including journalists like Raman Pratasevich and opposition leaders like Svyatlana Tsikhanouskaya and her husband, Syarhey Tsikhanouski. The United States will continue to stand with the people of Belarus in their struggle. The United States condemns in the strongest possible terms both the diversion of the plane and the subsequent removal and arrest of Mr. Pratasevich.”