By Darragh Roche | News Week|
- President Joe Biden will meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in Geneva on Wednesday
- Biden is expected to raise the issue of recent ransomware attacks and cyber security concerns
- Putin recently dismissed Biden’s previous comments agreeing the Russian leader was a “killer”
President Joe Biden will meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in Geneva on Wednesday in their first summit meeting since Biden entered the White House. It will be the president’s first time confronting a leader widely regarded as a U.S. adversary.
The meeting takes place following G7 and NATO summits, with Biden describing the NATO meeting on Tuesday as an “incredibly productive day.” However, the meeting with Putin will likely be a different experience as Biden is expected to raise the issue of recent ransomware attacks on the U.S. that have been linked to Russian hackers and the imprisonment of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, among other potentially contentious issues.
Both leaders have acknowledged that U.S.-Russia relations are at a historic low point. Biden has previously agreed that Putin is a “killer” but the Russian president dismissed the comments as “Hollywood macho.”
Speaking at a news conference on Sunday, Biden said: “This is not a contest about who can do better in front of a press conference or try to embarrass each other. It’s about making myself very clear what the conditions are to get a better relationship are with Russia.”
“We’re not looking for conflict. We are looking to resolve those actions which we think are inconsistent with international norms, number one. Number two, where we can work together,” Biden said.
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