America and Russia: Warming Up Cold Relations

On June 16, Biden and Putin met at Geneva during a  closed-door conference that lasted three hours and twenty-one minutes. Though the meeting lasted much less than the predicted 4-6 hours, Biden commented that he “did what he came to do” while Putin also called the meeting “constructive” (CNN). The only question is, what did these two powerful figures discuss in such a short time to rebuild such important relations?

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Before the meeting, tensions were apparent. Both parties admitted that relations were at rock-bottom to start, exemplified by the U.S.’s consistent finger-pointing toward Russia for voting scandals and cyber-attacks. Additionally, the personal attacks from Biden to Putin (as he once called the Russian president “soulless” and “a killer”) certainly didn’t help both figures heading into the conference (NPR).

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Through all of this, though, President Biden maintained that he was optimistic about the conference. In Russia’s case, they were much less hopeful. Russia’s Foreign Affairs Officer Yuri Ushakov and Kremlin Spokesperson Dmitry Peskov both agreed the talk would be “very difficult” (BBC).

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Despite all of the prior hostility surrounding the event, Putin and Biden met anyways, ensuring to the media that the talks were direct and “constructive”. Starting the meeting, President Biden addressed Russia as “a great world power”— a far more respectable title than what previous U.S. presidents have called Russia (CNN). The two then proceeded to discuss three leading concepts: cyber-security, nuclear arms, and Russian detainments of Americans (and detained Russians in the US). 

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First, following the hacking of the fuel pipeline from a Russian-based criminal syndicate, Biden and Putin established ground rules for the new era of cyber-attacks and cyber-security (in case of a possible cyber-war between the cyber-superpowers) (NPR). The two state heads laid out sixteen vital elements that either nation cannot target in the case of attacking, including food, water, fuel, and other civilian utilities. Biden also attempted to hold Putin accountable for the cyber-attacks of the criminal hacker group based in Russia, but Putin refused to take responsibility for it (NPR).

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The meeting also touched on active nuclear armament. As of February of this year, the New START treaty— a nuclear arms reduction agreement between the United States and Russia— expired, allowing both countries to build nuclear arsenals freely. However, because of June’s conference, the treaty expiration date has been extended to February of 2026 (CNN).

 

Finally, President Biden wanted to address Putin’s violation of human rights and the American prisoners detained within Russia. However, as many American politicians believed, President Putin’s common act of “shrugging off” or denying allegations continues through this meeting as well (BBC).

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All-in-all, the meeting went surprisingly well, given the context behind it. After the meeting, Putin commented on the different approach that Biden took compared to President Trump when he was in office, quite literally only saying it was a “different” meeting (CNN). However, Putin also commented on Biden’s previous political experience, suggesting it is more of a positive diplomatic change than a negative one (CNN).

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Though this is one meeting of many, the leaders of two of the most powerful countries have both come to make efforts to reopen diplomatic relations. Hopefully, the countries can soon achieve a peaceful solution to the long-lasting hatred.

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