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“We’re talking about our selfishness,” US President Joe Biden told a news conference following his June 16 meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. What he sees says it all.
The long-awaited summit in Geneva did not bring any change in the US-Russia relationship. There was no expectation, on both sides, that much would happen to repair the relationship, which is currently very difficult for many years to come.
Moscow and Washington face each other as rivals and this will continue. There is no way around it, for reasons of other pronunciations and ideological assumptions. “Restoration” is a thing of the past. What Donald Trump did to the Russian people, especially the hopeless rally in Helsinki back in July 2018, only made things worse.
In contrast, the three-hour meeting between Putin and Biden appears to have been successful. The court heard that the two leaders had agreed on a number of measures, which, if followed, would reduce the temperature between Washington and Moscow. It’s an easy way: be one side of the conflict and have the areas that others offer and take what is possible and necessary.
The summit provided a brief overview of Russia’s and the United States’ efforts to improve access to nuclear weapons since the beginning of this year. In a phone call on January 26, Putin and Biden agreed to extend the New Start agreement, which was due to expire in February, for another five years. This gave both parties time to form an agreement.
In addition, the two presidents agreed to send their ambassadors to their headquarters, and to restore good relations between them. The two deputies were remembered by their governments in March-April, especially “for questioning”.
The issue of testing the length of a relationship with the Middle East. A number of issues were discussed at the conference. In Syria, the US government is seeking a cohesive approach to humanitarian aid, possibly through the crossing of Syria and Turkey.
Iran’s nuclear deal is another issue that has been raised and Washington and Moscow could agree. Biden leaders have resumed talks with Tehran on how the US will return to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. Russia, as one of the signatories to the treaty and its Iranian counterpart, has a key role to play.
After leaving Afghanistan it can be another fun part. Even the US or Russia does not want to see the Taliban return to Kabul. With the Western military gone and Moscow in fear of more violence in the region than the American expansion, an alliance is possible.
If the people of Russia and the United States come to an agreement on these complex issues, history will judge the Geneva conference better.
There is no consensus on major issues, however. In a shocking turn of events, Team Biden has expressed displeasure with the Kremlin’s reduction of domestic violence in Russia or in the Ukrainian war. The US needs to do better: on the one hand, adhere to the principles of democracy and on the other, join Russia and do this as a strong ally. Biden’s call that Putin was a “worthy enemy” is a song in the Kremlin’s ears because it respects him.
However, Washington will not change to realpolitik and throw in its measures and principles. Obviously, the conference did not bring anything to Ukraine where, weeks ago, it was the topic. There is not a single trade-off between the US and Russia of the kind that Putin would like to see.
As a result, Moscow continues to look to the United States with suspicion and criticism for promoting “regime change” and “ethnic change”, as it has been successful since the 2000s. The US, meanwhile, will see Russia as the bearer of the flag of world domination along with China.
One of Biden’s tasks in Geneva was to deliver a message that the United States government would counter any attempt by the Russian people to bring trouble to the United States, either through intelligence or other political interference, as in the 2016 elections.
Is this less a relationship that can be promoted by Biden and endorsed by the Kremlin’s work? Only time can tell.
Hatred and infidelity on both sides leave many areas of skepticism. It does not take long for new conflicts between Moscow and Washington to erupt. While the US would like to watch China and the Kremlin be able to put more effort into helping support politicians at home, the competition has made its own life and is very stable.
But what they took from Geneva is that participating in the legality is not just a waste of time. It is no coincidence that both Biden and Putin walked out of the convention cheerfully. Russia got what it wanted: being treated like its allies by the US. Biden officials, too, took mileage at a meeting they had previously held in April. The US president appears to be representing Putin and should do what he did.
Looking at the bigger picture, the time of failure between Russia and the US, leading the Bush administration, Obama and Trump, is over. What we have now, as Russia’s foreign policy analyst Vladimir Frolov has to say, is “hate hate”. There is a chance that this could be sustainable.
The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the editor of Al Jazeera.
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