White House, Kremlin, aim for Biden-Putin summit in Geneva
The White House and the Kremlin are working to arrange a summit between President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Switzerland in June
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.The White House and the Kremlin are working to arrange a summit next month between President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Switzerland, according to officials.
National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan is meeting with his Russian counterpart in Geneva, the proposed host city, this week to finalize details, according to one official familiar with the preliminary planning but not authorized to discuss the deliberations publicly. Geneva is now expected to be the choice for Biden first face-to-face meeting with Putin as president, according to a second official.
An official announcement was expected in the coming days.
The summit would come at the end of Biden’s first foreign trip as president, a week-long swing through Europe that includes a stop in the United Kingdom for a Group of Seven summit of leaders of the world’s richest nations, and then a visit to the Brussels headquarters of NATO, the longstanding military alliance built as a bulwark to Russian aggression.
A spokeswoman for the National Security Council declined to comment on the summit logistics.
But, in a statement, the NSC said this week's meeting between Sullivan and the Secretary of the Russian Security Council, Nikolay Patrushev, “was an important step in the preparation for a planned U.S.-Russia summit” and deemed the discussions “constructive” despite “outstanding differences.”
The Biden first administration called for the summit last month after Russia engaged in a series of confrontational actions: temporarily amassing troops on the Ukrainian border, the SolarWinds hacking, reports of bounties placed on U.S. troops in Afghanistan and the poisoning and imprisonment of opposition leader Alexei Navalny.
___
Keaton reported from Geneva. Lemire reported from New York. Associated Press writers Josh Boak and Aamer Madhani contributed reporting.