Hours before the expected meeting between US and Russian Presidents, Joe Biden and Vladimir Putin, the differences between the two countries remain multiple, and although achieving a diplomatic breakthrough during the meeting seems unlikely, the two leaders may reach some kind of understanding in some files.
With these words, the Swiss newspaper “Le Temps” began a report on the Biden-Putin summit that will be held tomorrow, Wednesday, as writer Stephane Boussard indicated that researcher and lecturer Paul Vallett expected – during a hypothetical conference organized by the Geneva Center for Security Policy – that the meeting “will not be like The Yalta or Helsinki summits… The US President and the British Prime Minister at the time, Franklin Roosevelt and Winston Churchill, made concessions to Soviet leader Joseph Stalin in Yalta.
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nuclear weapons control
The writer mentioned that the United States and Russia possess more than 90% of the world’s nuclear arsenal, and some hope that the two presidents will decide during the Geneva summit to start talks on the strategic stability of these weapons.
They had already decided at the beginning of the year to maintain the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty until 2026, but with the development of the pace of armaments, there is an urgent need for such a dialogue, according to the Luton report.
There is also – the writer adds – another file in which Russian-American cooperation seems possible, which is the Iranian nuclear agreement, as both Moscow and Washington want to reactivate it and the two parties can agree to expand it to include issues such as ballistic missiles and Iran’s regional role.
digital security
According to the newspaper, this file is considered the most tension-producing between the two countries. Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s report clearly highlighted Russian interference in the 2016 US presidential elections, which witnessed Donald Trump’s victory, and a number of important strategic facilities and US government agencies were infiltrated by parties that pointed out. Experts indicate that its location is in Russia.
Although the recent breach of a pipeline inside the United States and the multinational meat company “GPS” was not directly attributed to the Kremlin, experts confirmed that parties within the influence of Russian soil are responsible for it.
Vladimir Putin considered it “ridiculous” to think that Russia is waging an information war against the United States, and believes that de-escalation in this framework is necessary because a sharp conflict in cyberspace may lead to the outbreak of war.
Ukraine
The Russian president considers Ukraine a red line, as he will not accept any US intervention or any efforts to push the country into the arms of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
On the other hand, Washington’s refusal to annex Crimea persists, and there is clear American support for Kiev, but in reality Ukraine risks remaining in a frozen conflict for a long time to come.
Some Ukrainians fear that the Geneva summit will cause them to be “abandoned”, but Joe Biden recently assured Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky that his country is “unwaveringly” committed to Ukraine’s sovereignty.
Belarus
After the hijacking of a civilian airliner over Belarusian airspace in order to arrest journalist and opposition activist Roman Protasevic, Joe Biden will not hesitate to denounce the brutal suppression of the pro-democracy opposition in Belarus.
As for Vladimir Putin, who supports Minsk, he will never concede in this region, which is Russia’s direct sphere of influence.
human rights
The Kremlin views the human rights argument as one of the West’s tools to undermine Russian sovereignty, and Joe Biden will undoubtedly raise during the meeting the poisoning and detention of Russian dissident Alexei Navalny and the ban on his movement, and the danger of closing the “Radio Free Europe” station, a funded radio station in Russia. From Washington, she faces a fine of $2 million for failing to comply with Russia’s “Foreign Agents” law.
And Vladimir Putin – the newspaper adds – will have a “ready response”, as he is expected to raise the issue of the re-emergence of racism against blacks in the United States in the wake of the death of African-American George Floyd at the hands of a white policeman. He also considers the riots that engulfed the Capitol on January 6 “an expression of political discontent” for a group of American citizens.
Syria
The writer stresses that nearly 3 million displaced Syrians are at risk of starvation in the Idlib region, and the UN Security Council is scheduled to vote on July 10 to maintain an open humanitarian corridor, and Biden may persuade his Russian counterpart not to object to the decision through The right of veto.
Diplomatic relations
As for the diplomatic relations between Washington and Moscow, they are very deteriorating, as they have expelled each other’s diplomats, and Moscow for some time banned Russian citizens from working in an American mission or consulate. The two leaders will address in Geneva this file to re-establish a “stable diplomatic relationship” and to maintain an open channel of communication on a permanent basis between the two sides.