Egypt central bank deploys AI tools to track inflation, map informal economy: governor    Egypt's stocks record strong gains in September, EGX30 up 4.33%    Egypt approves 776,379 state-funded treatment decisions in July–August    Egypt launches waste reduction plan in Port Said with Japan's JICA    Telecom works near Grand Egyptian Museum cause brief Cairo service outage: NTRA    Egypt drug regulator, Organon discuss biologics expansion, investment    Microfinance portfolios in Egypt exceed EGP 101bn, reaching 4.1 million clients by Q2 2025    Gaza death toll surpasses 66,000 as Israel tightens siege, 'Freedom Flotilla' nears coast    Egypt's PM addresses parliament on Al-Sisi's objections to criminal procedures bill    Egypt's Contact Financial closes EGP 1.312bn securitisation bond    Suez Canal Authority urges Maersk to resume transits, citing strategic role in global trade    Egypt's Al-Sisi reaffirms state's commitment to judicial independence    Alameda launches Egypt's largest private-sector medical conference    Egypt calls for global mental health action, strengthens regional partnerships at Doha Summit    A Timeless Canvas: Forever Is Now Returns to the Pyramids of Giza    Egypt aims to reclaim global golf standing with new major tournaments: Omar Hisham    Egypt's foreign minister says Ethiopia's Nile dam policy is 'destabilising'    Trump unveils controversial Gaza peace plan amid escalating crisis, divided responses    Al-Sisi, Bin Zayed back Trump's Gaza peace initiative amid mounting diplomatic drive    Egypt to host men's, juniors' and ladies' open golf championships in October    Egypt's President Al-Sisi pardons activist Alaa Abdel Fattah, 5 others    Egyptian Writers Conference announces theme for 37th session    Egypt's Al Ismaelia wins heritage award for Downtown Cairo revival    Egypt's PM heads to UNGA to press for Palestinian statehood    Egypt condemns terrorist attack in northwest Pakistan    Egypt's foreign minister holds talks on reviving Iran nuclear negotiations    Egypt's Sisi, Uganda's Museveni discuss boosting ties    Egypt's Sisi warns against unilateral Nile measures, reaffirms Egypt's water security stance    Greco-Roman rock-cut tombs unearthed in Egypt's Aswan    Egypt reveals heritage e-training portal    Sisi launches new support initiative for families of war, terrorism victims    Egypt expands e-ticketing to 110 heritage sites, adds self-service kiosks at Saqqara    Palm Hills Squash Open debuts with 48 international stars, $250,000 prize pool    Germany among EU's priciest labour markets – official data    Paris Olympic gold '24 medals hit record value    A minute of silence for Egyptian sports    Russia says it's in sync with US, China, Pakistan on Taliban    It's a bit frustrating to draw at home: Real Madrid keeper after Villarreal game    Shoukry reviews with Guterres Egypt's efforts to achieve SDGs, promote human rights    Sudan says countries must cooperate on vaccines    Johnson & Johnson: Second shot boosts antibodies and protection against COVID-19    Egypt to tax bloggers, YouTubers    Egypt's FM asserts importance of stability in Libya, holding elections as scheduled    We mustn't lose touch: Muller after Bayern win in Bundesliga    Egypt records 36 new deaths from Covid-19, highest since mid June    Egypt sells $3 bln US-dollar dominated eurobonds    Gamal Hanafy's ceramic exhibition at Gezira Arts Centre is a must go    Italian Institute Director Davide Scalmani presents activities of the Cairo Institute for ITALIANA.IT platform    







Thank you for reporting!
This image will be automatically disabled when it gets reported by several people.



Face to face: Biden, Putin ready for long-anticipated summit
Published in Ahram Online on 16 - 06 - 2021

President Joe Biden and Russia's Vladimir Putin sit down Wednesday for their highly anticipated summit in the Swiss city of Geneva, a moment of high-stakes diplomacy at a time when both leaders agree that U.S.-Russian relations are at an all-time low.
For four months, the two leaders have traded sharp rhetoric. Biden repeatedly called out Putin for malicious cyberattacks by Russian-based hackers on U.S. interests, a disregard for democracy with the jailing of Russia's foremost opposition leader and interference in American elections.
Putin, for his part, has reacted with whatabout-isms and obfuscations _ pointing to the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol to argue that the U.S. has no business lecturing on democratic norms and insisting that the Russian government hasn't been involved in any election interference or cyberattacks despite U.S. intelligence showing otherwise.
Now, the pair will meet for their first face-to-face as leaders _ a conversation that is expected to last four to five hours. In advance, both sides set out to lower expectations.
Even so, Biden has said it would be an important step if the United States and Russia were able to ultimately find ``stability and predictability`` in their relationship, a seemingly modest goal from the president for dealing with the person he sees as one of America's fiercest adversaries.
``We should decide where it's in our mutual interest, in the interest of the world, to cooperate, and see if we can do that,`` Biden told reporters earlier this week. ``And the areas where we don't agree, make it clear what the red lines are.``
Arrangements for the meeting have been carefully choreographed and vigorously negotiated by both sides.
Biden first floated the meeting in an April phone call in which he informed Putin that he would be expelling several Russian diplomats and imposing sanctions against dozens of people and companies, part of an effort to hold the Kremlin accountable for interference in last year's presidential election and the hacking of federal agencies.
Putin and his entourage will arrive first at the summit site: Villa La Grange, a grand lakeside mansion set in Geneva's biggest park. Next come Biden and his team. Swiss President Guy Parmelin will greet the two leaders.
The three will spend a moment together in front of the cameras, but only Parmelin is expected to make remarks, according to a senior administration official who briefed reporters on the condition of anonymity.
Biden and Putin first will hold a relatively intimate meeting joined by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. Each side will have a translator.
The meeting will then expand to include five senior aides on each side.
After the meeting concludes, Putin is scheduled to hold a solo news conference, with Biden following suit. The White House opted against a joint news conference, deciding it did not want to appear to elevate Putin at a moment when the president is urging European allies to pressure Putin to cut out myriad provocations.
Biden sees himself with few peers on foreign policy. He traveled the globe as a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and was given difficult foreign policy assignments by President Barack Obama when Biden was vice president. His portfolio included messy spots like Iraq and Ukraine and weighing the mettle of China's Xi Jinping during his rise to power.
He has repeatedly said that he believes executing effective foreign policy comes from forming strong personal relations, and he has managed to find rapport with both the likes of Turkey's Recep Tayyip Erdogan, whom Biden has labeled an ``autocrat,'' and conventional politicians like Canada's Justin Trudeau.
But with Putin, whom the president has said is a ``killer`` and has ``no soul,`` Biden has long been wary. At the same time, he acknowledges that Putin, who remained the most powerful figure in Russian politics over the span of five U.S. presidents, is not without talent. Biden this week suggested that he is approaching his meeting with Putin carefully.
``He's bright. He's tough,`` Biden told reporters. ``And I have found that he is a _ as they say...a worthy adversary.``
There are hopes of finding small areas of agreement.
No commitments have been made, but according to the senior administration official, there are hopes that both sides will return their ambassadors to their respective postings following the meeting. Russia's ambassador to the U.S., Anatoly Antonov, was recalled from Washington about three months ago after Biden called Putin a killer; U.S. Ambassador to Russia John Sullivan left Moscow almost two months ago, after Russia suggested he return to Washington for consultations.
Both ambassadors will be in Geneva during Wednesday's meeting.
Biden administration officials say they think common ground can be found on arms control. International arms control groups are pressing the Russian and American leaders to start a push for new arms control by holding ``strategic stability'' talks _ a series of government-to-government discussions meant to sort through the many areas of disagreement and tension on the national security front.
The Biden team will press its concerns on cybersecurity. In recent months, Russia-based hackers have launched crippling attacks on a major U.S. oil pipeline and a Brazil-headquartered meat supplier that operates in the U.S.
The Russian side has said that the imprisonment of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny is an internal political matter and one area where Putin won't engage Biden. But the senior Biden administration official said there ``is no issue that is off the table for the president,`` suggesting Navalny will come up.
The meeting is sure to invite comparisons with President Donald Trump's 2018 meeting with Putin in Helsinki, where the two leaders held a joint news conference and Trump sided with Russian denials when asked whether Moscow had meddled in the 2016 presidential election.
Biden has prepared for his one-on-one by reviewing materials and consulting with officials across government and with outside advisers. Aides said the level of preparation wasn't unusual. Biden, in a brief exchange with reporters upon arriving in Geneva on Tuesday night, sought to offer the impression that he wasn't sweating his big meeting.
``I am always ready,'' Biden said.


Clic here to read the story from its source.