On Wednesday, 16^th of June, 2021, United States President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin met at the NATO Summit in Geneva, Switzerland. It was their first meeting since Biden officially became President of the United States. Before the meeting, the two had delivered their respective statements, in which Biden said that Putin was a worthy adversary. In fact, the two countries also admit that the two countries have poor relationship.

The meeting discussed a range of issues, diplomatic relations between the two countries and included discussions on arms control and US allegations of Russian cyber-attacks.

Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty

To minimize the threat of possible nuclear war, the two plan to build a New START treaty (Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty) or a global arms control platform. Signed in 2010, the New START treaty limits the number of nuclear warheads deployed by America and Russia, which is 1,550 warheads each, as well as the number of missiles on land and in submarines and bombers. The extension of the New START treaty will last for five years, which means until year 2024.

Cybersecurity

Biden addressed the recent attacks on the Colonial Pipeline in the US , and said he would take action against any Russian cyberattacks. Meanwhile, Putin denied that Russia was responsible for any cyberattacks against the US. The two leaders agreed to starttalks on this cybersecurity issue. However, neither side provided further details on how their planned cybersecurity talks would unfold.

Bilateral Relations

Furthermore, in the field of bilateral cooperation, both agreed to return their diplomats to Moscow and Washington. Where three months ago, Russia had withdrawn Russian Ambassador to the US, Anatoly Antonov as well as U.S. Ambassador to Russia, John Sullivan had left Moscow two months since the deterioration of relations between the two countries. The deal to restore the positions of the Russian and U.S. Ambassadors is a sign of restoring relations between the two countries in a better direction.

Source:

Aljazeera. (2021). “Biden, Putin conclude Geneva summit after hours of talks”. Retrieved July, 11 2021, from https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/6/16/biden-putin-conclude-geneva-summit-after-hours-of-talks.

BBC. (2021). “Biden and Putin praise Geneva summit talks but discord remains”. Retrieved July, 11 2021, from https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-57504755.

Republika. (2021). “Pertemuan Biden-Putin Konstruktif dan Positif”. Retrieved July, 11 2021, from https://www.republika.id/posts/17638/pertemuan-biden-putin-konstruktif-dan-positif.