Joe Biden said meeting with Vladimir Putin would be ‘critical’ and that he would offer to cooperate on areas of common interest if the Kremlin so choses. Biden warned that if Russia chose not to cooperate in areas like cybersecurity ‘then we will respond’. The US president also characterised Putin as ‘bright’, ‘tough’ and ‘a worthy adversary’. When questioned by reporters, Biden said the potential death of the opposition leader Alexei Navalny, now jailed in Russia, would be a tragedy and would hurt Russian relations with the rest of the world and with the United States. The two men are meeting in Geneva on 16 June for the first time as presidents
- Biden says US-Russia relations at low point but ‘we’re not looking for conflict’
- Vladimir Putin refuses to guarantee Navalny will survive prison
- Joe Biden to use Nato summit to atone for damage of Trump years
Source: Elections - theguardian.com
