Russian President Joe Biden and Russia's Vladimir Putin agreed on Tuesday to meet next month in Geneva, a face-to-face meeting in the White House in the hope that it would help bring some speculation to a tense relationship over the first few months of Democratic rule.
The June 16 summit marked the end of Biden's first international tour as president: He will also visit Britain for a Group of Seven world leaders summit and attend a NATO summit in Brussels.
The agenda is expected to include a discussion of Russia's actions in neighboring Ukraine, the forced disruption of airlines in Lithuania by Belarus of Russia, efforts by both nations to curb the coronavirus epidemic and more.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki said no rules had been set for the meeting.
The White House sets low expectations for the meeting. It is not expected to lead to any major explosion not to mention the kind of US-Russian relations re-established by Biden's former leader, Barack Obama, or a curious bonhomie of Donald Trump-Putin's relationship.
Instead, officials say Biden is the nominee and at the beginning of his tenure he has warned that he expects relations to continue to be strained - looking to find something they agree with his rival on the way forward.
The Kremlin, for its part, said the presidents would discuss the current situation and the prospects for Russia-U.S. relationships, strategic resilience issues and complex issues on the international agenda, including communication in dealing with the coronavirus epidemic and resolving regional conflicts.
Biden first raised the issue with Putin in April as his management prepares to pay for a second sanction against Russian officials during his tenure as president.
And the US imposed further sanctions on Russian companies and ships last week for their work on the European natural gas pipeline Nord Stream 2. U.S. officials say the pipeline threatens European energy security, increases Russia's power and poses risks to Ukraine and Poland by surpassing both countries.
The White House has reiterated its demand for stable and unpredictable relations with "Russians.
At the same time, he called Putin over allegations that Russians intervened in last year's US presidential election and that the Kremlin was in the process of hacking the SolarWinds campaign in which Russian hackers introduced software that was widely used with malicious code, enabling them to access at least nine US networks.
Biden officials also criticized Russia for the arrest and imprisonment of opposition leader Alexei Navalny and openly acknowledged that there was little confidence that Russian ambassadors provided Taliban with funding to attack US troops in Afghanistan.
Geneva with its largest Mont Blanc venues in Western Europe and its reputation as a center for international institutions and a more elaborate neutrality icon in Switzerland give the background to the conference.
The city last hosted American and Russian leaders in 1985, when President Ronald Reagan met with Mikhail Gorbachev at a conference that was considered short-lived but critical in building what could have been a more intimate relationship between the two men during their time.
Biden officials announced sanctions in March against several central and Russian officials, as well as more than a dozen businesses and other organizations, for the nearly dangerous Navy-agent attack on Navalny in August 2020 and his subsequent arrest.
Navalny returned to Russia a few days before Biden's inauguration on January 20 and was immediately arrested.
Last month, executives announced they fired 10 Russian strategists and punished multiple Russian companies and individuals in response to allegations of interference with SolarWinds and the election.
But even though Biden continues with the latest sanctions, he has admitted that he has taken steps to try to send a message to Putin that he still hopes the US and Russia can understand the rules of the game in their disputed relations.
Senen Ben Sasse, a Nebraska Republican, has criticized Biden's decision to join Putin as a weakness. "
He expressed concern over Russia's treatment of Navalny and a soft response to Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko, Putin's counterpart his country this week ordered the diversion of a Greek-to-Lithuanian commercial plane to arrest an opposition journalist.
Senator also criticized Biden for rescuing German sanctions on Nord Stream 2, arguing with U.S. lawyers on both sides of the issue.
Do we reward Putin with a conference? Said Sasse.
Instead of treating Putin like a gangster who fears his people, we give him his precious pipe Nord Stream 2 and make his actions in the assembly. "
Biden, in exchange for a press release on Tuesday afternoon, defended the decision to lift sanctions against Germany over the pipeline.
He pointed out that it was about to end and that punishing an acquaintance would have a negative impact. "
Meanwhile, German Chancellor Angela Merkel welcomed the news of the summit. Diplomacy is only an option if you negotiate, "Merkel said.
During his White House campaign, Biden described Russia as a major security threat to US alliances, and tarnished Trump's image with Putin's good relations.
Trump avoided direct confrontation with Putin and often sought to reduce the Russian leader's vicious act.
Their one-on-one conference, held in July 2018 in Helsinki, was marked by Trump's refusal to cooperate with US intelligence agencies over Putin's denial of Russia's interference in the 2016 elections.
Weeks ago as president, Biden spoke in front of State Department officials that he had told Putin on their first phone call that the United States' days were continuing in spite of Russia's atrocities ... they were over. "
In March, Biden in an ABC News interview responded with a frank question when his interviewer George Stephanopoulos questioned whether he thought Putin was a murderer.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Biden's comments indicated he definitely did not want to form any "relations with Russia."
Weeks ago as president, Biden spoke in front of State Department officials that he had told Putin on their first phone call that the United States' days were continuing in spite of Russia's atrocities ... they were over. "
In March, Biden in an ABC News interview responded with a frank question when his interviewer George Stephanopoulos questioned whether he thought Putin was a murderer.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Biden's comments indicated he definitely did not want to form any "relations with Russia."
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