Posturing | U.S.A & Russia President Back off From Macho: Although the two world leaders found little common ground beyond improving relationships, their public remarks offered glimpses into a new strategy they plan to employ.
Posturing | U.S.A & Russia President Back off From Macho
Summit Between USA & Russia
Wednesday’s high-profile Geneva summit between Russian President Vladimir Putin and President Joe Biden yielded few tangible results. Apart from platitudes about the importance of repairing a broken relationship between the two countries. But perhaps the most significant achievement in recent years was, despite a relationship marked by both sides, an implied commitment to ratchet the rhetoric and move away from tough-guy politics.
During his culminating press conference, Biden doffed his suit jacket late in the day on a patio. And the overlooking a serene lake and gave aviator sunglasses before taking some additional questions from assembled reporters. It matched the president’s casual style, and his team focused on putting forward to describe the multiple hours they spent together.
Oil Field Failed
Biden referred to ongoing sources of unrest, such as a cyberattack on a major gas pipeline that seized control of the channel last month, as examples. Before the company’s executives paid a ransom to a Russian hacker group, the company was hacked. He took the folksy approach that has defined his political style—also, asking Putin how he would feel if Russia’s oil fields suddenly failed. And finally, Finally, he appeared to rely on US-led international censure as a check on Russian intervention — a strategy that Biden’s congressional critics quickly dismissed as short-sighted but that the president maintained.
Co-operation
Despite its grievous human rights record. But Biden also appeared eager for potential cooperation. Including jailing dissident Alexei Navalny and his heavy-handed military operations in places like Syria, he urged Russia to adhere to “international norms.”
“He said he’s willing, quote, to help,” Biden added, referring to Afghanistan, Iran, and other foreign policy areas where he said he and Russian President Vladimir Putin found similar ground. He also added that the US and Russia agreed to form a working group to escalate concerns further.
The American president arrived at the high-profile conference with a lot to account for, including growing Russian hostility under his predecessors’ watch. However, the occasion was more significant for Putin. Who enjoyed performing on the global stage. As a worldwide statesman of an irreplaceable powerhouse — an image he strives to.
Putin predictably brushed aside questions from the American press. About his crackdown on civil liberties in Russia. His systematic arrest of political dissidents. His cooperation in Russian aggression abroad, ranging from covert cyber operations to outright backing. He continued meddling in Ukraine and his support for cruel autocrats in Belarus, Syria, and Libya.
Conclusion
As analysts said in the weeks since Biden first accepted the offer, the two leaders had virtually no hope to reach a conclusion or consensus on any of the issues.
Biden says he’s repeatedly explaining responses to critics. Who said he’s unnecessarily reinforcing Putin’s standing by engaging with him at a high profile. And after days of clarifying Putin’s past characterization as a soulless killer, he added praise to the Russian leader. The partnership between two powerful and proud nations is a one-of-a-kind duty that we share. It was unmistakable, probably most notably from Putin, that they wished to seem more amicable with one another in this forum than prior declarations had permitted.
President Biden is a seasoned statesman. Putin stated this through a translator. In addition to assessing the US President’s performance, Donald Trump had a bombastic and bellicose demeanor and appeared to be at ease with autocrats like Putin. During the last summit between two countries leaders. Trump criticized the intelligence assessments of his own country. Hence appeared to face Putin’s denials of involvement in election interference.
But even then, Putin seemed unable to resist firing Biden’s rhetorical barb. When asked about Russia’s human rights record, Putin listed Black Lives Matter protests in the United States that turned violent, the Jan. 6 attempted takeover of the United States Capitol, CIA black sites, and civilian casualties in Afghanistan.
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