President Joe Biden
arrived in Geneva on Tuesday for a much-watched meeting with Russian
President Vladimir Putin, fresh from days of alliance-building sessions
between the American leader and his European allies.
Biden
is making his first trip to Europe as president, and seeking to restore
European partnerships shaken by former President Donald Trump. Biden
this week has held long days of meetings with global leaders at the
Group of Seven, NATO and U.S.-E.U. summits, where he secured joint
communiques expressing concern over Russia and China. On Tuesday, he
helped preside over a tension-easing agreement easing a long-running
U.S. trade dispute with Europe.
But Biden’s Wednesday meeting with the Russian president is his most highly anticipated.
Biden
plans to confront Putin on everything from Moscow’s cyberattacks to its
election interference efforts and human rights abuses. But he’s also
said he hopes to look for areas where the two nations can cooperate and
to normalize the historically icy relationship between the two nations.
Two days before their meeting, President Joe Biden called Russian President Vladimir Putin a "worthy adversary" but declined to say what he hopes to gain from the summit. Biden also said it would be "a tragedy" if Alexei Navalny died in prison.
Before
leaving his Brussels stop Tuesday morning, U.S. officials announced a
major breakthrough with the European Union in a 17-year trade dispute
centered on rival subsidies for aircraft manufacturers.
The
two sides reached terms on much of a government subsidy each can
provide for its aircraft manufacturing giant — Boeing in the United
States and Airbus in the EU.. The announcement came as Biden met with
European Council President Charles Michel and European Commission
President Ursula von der Leyen.
With
the move, Biden eases a major point of tension in the trans-Atlantic
relationship at a moment he’s seeking to marshal widespread European
support for his efforts to counter Russia prior to his Wednesday meeting
in Geneva with Putin.
U.S.
Trade Representative Katherine Tai told reporters that the agreement
calls for a five-year suspension of the aircraft tariffs, and stressed
that it was time to put aside the fight and focus on China’s economic
assertiveness.
“Today’s
announcement resolves a longstanding trade irritant in the U.S.-Europe
relationship. Instead of fighting with one of our closest allies, we are
finally coming together against a common threat,”″ Tai said. “We agreed
to work together to challenge and counter China’s non-market practices
in this sector in specific ways that reflect our standards for fair
competition. “
Switzerland's President Guy Parmelin, front right, welcomes U.S. President Joe Biden, left, in Geneva, Switzerland, Tuesday, June 15, 2021 one day before the US - Russia summit. The meeting between US President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin is scheduled in Geneva for Wednesday, June 16, 2021. (Denis Balibouse/Pool Photo via AP)
To
be certain, the U.S.-EU relationship faces other trade-related
friction. The continent’s leaders are becoming impatient that Biden has
not yet addressed Trump’s 2018 decision to impose import taxes on
foreign steel and aluminum.
Even
without resolving all trade disputes, White House officials expressed
confidence that they can build more goodwill with Europe ahead of the
face-to-face meeting with Putin.
The White House on Tuesday announced the creation of a joint U.S.-EU trade and technology council.
The
council will work on coordinating standards for artificial
intelligence, quantum computing and bio-technologies, as well as
coordinating efforts on bolstering supply chain resilience. Biden is
appointing Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Commerce Secretary Gina
Raimondo and Tai to co-chair the U.S. side of the effort.
The
White House said the two sides will also discuss efforts to stem
climate change and launch an expert group to determine how best to
reopen travel safely as the coronavirus pandemic ebbs.
Biden started his day by meeting with Belgian King Philippe and Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo.
The
U.S.-EU summit is also expected to include a communique later Tuesday
that will address concerns about China’s provocative behavior.
That
statement would follow a NATO summit communique on Monday that declared
China a constant security challenge and said the Chinese are working to
undermine the global rules-based order. On Sunday, the Group of Seven
nations called out what it said were China’s forced labor practices and
other human rights violations against Uyghur Muslims and other ethnic
minorities in the western Xinjiang province.
Biden is also expected to spend time discussing Russia with Michel and von der Leyen ahead of Wednesday’s summit with Putin.
Since
taking office in January, Biden has repeatedly pressed Putin to take
action to stop Russian-originated cyberattacks on companies and
governments in the U.S. and around the globe and decried the
imprisonment of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny. Biden also has
publicly aired intelligence that suggests — albeit with low to moderate
confidence — that Moscow offered bounties to the Taliban to target U.S.
troops stationed in Afghanistan.
Both Biden and Putin have described the U.S.-Russia relationship as being at an all-time low.
The
Europeans are keen to set up a “high-level dialogue” on Russia with the
United States to counter what they say is Moscow’s drift into deeper
authoritarianism and anti-Western sentiment.
At
the same time, the 27-nation bloc is deeply divided in its approach to
Moscow. Russia is the EU’s biggest natural gas supplier, and plays a key
role in international conflicts and key issues, including the Iran
nuclear deal and conflicts in Syria and Libya.
The
hope is that Biden’s meeting with Putin might pay dividends, and no one
in Brussels wants to undermine the show of international unity that has
been on display at the G-7 and NATO summits, according to EU officials.
In
addition to scolding China, NATO leaders in their communique on Monday
took a big swipe at Russia, deploring its aggressive military activities
and snap wargames near the borders of NATO countries as well as the
repeated violation of the 30-nations’ airspace by Russian planes.
They
said Russia has ramped up “hybrid” actions against NATO countries by
attempting to interfere in elections, political and economic
intimidation, disinformation campaigns and “malicious cyber activities.”
“Until
Russia demonstrates compliance with international law and its
international obligations and responsibilities, there can be no return
to ‘business as usual,’” the NATO leaders wrote. “We will continue to
respond to the deteriorating security environment by enhancing our
deterrence and defense posture.”
By AAMER MADHANI, JONATHAN LEMIRE, and LORNE COOK
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Associated Press writer Paul Wiseman contributed to this report.