US President Biden to meet Russia's Putin, whom he called 'a killer', in Geneva on June 16

With Joe Biden's National Security Adviser (NSA) Jake Sullivan meeting his Russian counterpart in Geneva earlier, The White House on Tuesday has confirmed that the US President will be meeting Russian President Vladimir Putin on June 16 in Switzerland. The in-person meeting will be the first-ever face-to-face session between Biden and Putin in their capacities that comes amid the deteriorating US-Russia relations. Biden, who was recently elected to power, will depart on his first international visit as President to attend the G-7 meeting in Britain and the NATO summit in Brussels before calling on his Russian counterpart in Geneva. 

Joe Biden and Vladimir Putin will discuss a full range of 'pressing issues' seeking to restore predictability and stability to the U.S.-Russia relationship, the White House has said in a statement. 

While the White House remains mum on the specific issues likely to be discussed, the treatment meted out to Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny and the amassing of Russian troops at the Ukrainian border are expected to be brought up. Russia's alleged interference in the US elections to the detriment of Joe Biden's Democratic party, climate change and COVID-19 pandemic could also be discussed at length, as per reports in international media. 

Joe Biden & Vladimir Putin last met in 2011

Biden and Putin had last met during the former's tenure as the Vice President in President Barack Obama's administration back in 2011. Since assuming office in January, President Joe Biden has had two phone calls with his Russian counterpart with Vladimir proposing a summit on the call that took place in April. While the meeting between the two global leaders is not expected to achieve any major breakthroughs, it is said that US officials are expecting the high-octane meet to improve the relationship between Biden, who is in his early days as the US President, and Russia's Vladimir Putin. Given that Biden has called Putin a 'killer' and Putin has implied a threat in his reply means the temperatures are likely to soar.  

In a statement earlier, the National Security Council  (NSC) said this week's meeting between Sullivan and the Secretary of the Russian Security Council, Nikolay Patrushev, “was an important step in the preparation for a planned U.S.-Russia summit” and deemed the discussions “constructive” despite “outstanding differences.”

The Biden administration first called for the summit last month after Russia engaged in a series of confrontational actions: temporarily amassing troops on the Ukrainian border, the SolarWinds hacking, reports of bounties placed on U.S. troops in Afghanistan and the poisoning and imprisonment of opposition leader Alexei Navalny. Russia is also believed to be sheltering the hackers behind a May cyberattack that shut down the Colonial Pipeline, which delivers 45% of the gasoline supply to the U.S. East Coast.

US wants stable relationship with Russia: Blinken

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said the administration wants a “predictable, stable relationship” with Russia. Blinken met last week in Iceland with Russia’s longtime Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. The two diplomats described their 1-hour-and-45-minute meeting as polite and constructive, even though sharp disagreements persist. Russia proposed a new strategic dialogue, and the United States seemed receptive.

Biden has taken a very different approach to Russia than his predecessor, former President Donald Trump, who often aimed to cozy up to Putin. Their sole summit, held in July 2018 in Helsinki, was marked by Trump’s refusal to side with U.S. intelligence agencies over Putin’s denials of Russian interference in the 2016 election.

Under Biden, the United States has sought to pressure Russia through economic sanctions. It imposed penalties last week on Russian companies and ships for their work on a natural gas pipeline in Europe, though the Biden administration spared the German company overseeing the project, to the frustration of several Republican and Democratic lawmakers. 

(With AP inputs)