The Biden-Putin summit features high stakes, low expectations

The lack of results expected from the Geneva meeting is in sharp contrast to the long list of U.S. complaints about recent Russian behavior.

NBC News

By Shannon Pettypiece from Geneva
Photo: NBC NEWS

President Joe Biden arrived Tuesday in Switzerland for his first meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin amid a decade of stark deterioration in relations between their two countries.

White House officials have increasingly downplayed their expectations for the meeting. National security adviser Jake Sullivan said he doesn't expect any significant outcomes.

Biden, asked before he left Brussels, where he was meeting with NATO members, whether he could reach an understanding with Putin on cyberattacks, quipped in response: "Who knows, at this point?"

The lack of expected results are in sharp contrast with the long list of U.S. complaints: recent ransomware attacks on critical U.S. infrastructure, election interference, increasing aggression toward Ukraine, and Putin's crackdowns on political opposition.

Publish : 2021-06-16 14:10:00

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