The summit of US and Russian Presidents Joe Biden and Vladimir Putin could lead to unpredictable negative consequences. This opinion was expressed on Sunday, April 18, by Senator Alexei Pushkov in his Telegram channel.
He recalled the neutral, successful and unsuccessful meetings between Russian and American leaders. Among the “frankly failed” members of the parliament, he singled out the meeting of the first secretary of the CPSU Central Committee Nikita Khrushchev with US President John F. Kennedy. Pushkov pointed out that the heads of state were dissatisfied with each other and could not find a common language, and soon the meeting was followed by the Caribbean crisis.
“But there was not the initial tension between the two leaders that Biden clearly feels towards Putin. It cannot be ruled out that at the next summit <...> Biden will try, in the spirit of “new toughness” he declared, to read a notation to Putin, express his claims to him and talk from a position of strength. With Biden, these notes are slipping now, ”the senator noted.
And although Pushkov expressed confidence that Putin would not succumb to provocation, the parliamentarian admitted that the summit could lead nowhere or increase the existing tension.
“Biden needs to understand very well why he invites Putin to the meeting and what he can offer him. Otherwise, it can only pave the way for a new version of the Cuban missile crisis, this time around Ukraine, ”summed up Pushkov.
On April 13, Russian President Vladimir Putin and his American counterpart Joe Biden had a telephone conversation. It was noted that it was initiated by Washington. The head of the White House reaffirmed his commitment to building stable and predictable relations with Russia in accordance with the interests of the United States and proposed to hold a summit meeting to discuss a set of issues facing the countries.
Nevertheless, a few days later, Biden signed a decree imposing new sanctions on Moscow. The restrictions affected 32 legal entities and individuals from Russia. Also in the United States announced the expulsion of 10 employees of the Russian diplomatic mission in Washington.
After that, Moscow introduced countermeasures in response to new US anti-Russian sanctions. The Russian Foreign Ministry, in particular, announced the expulsion of 10 American diplomats.
As emphasized by the press secretary of the White House Jen Psaki, Biden does not intend to “hold back neither in words, nor in actions” against Putin.