By Ekaterina Chukaeva /Sputnik News/ – All eyes are on Geneva where Vladimir Putin and Joe Biden will meet face-to-face for the first time in Biden’s presidency, as hopes are high that the two world leaders will reach common ground on a number of issues of global importance, and ease bilateral tensions.
The luxury lakeside Villa La Grange in Geneva’s biggest park has hosted landmark international agreements, including the First Geneva Convention in 1864, but the one on Wednesday – a historic meeting between the two world leaders – will probably be the most high-profile. The 18th-century mansion is expected to foster an atmosphere of compromise in the first encounter between the two leaders since Biden ascended to the presidency earlier this year. Close advisers from both sides will join the event, including US State Secretary Antony Blinken and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
The meeting with the Russian leader is the last – but far from the least – in Biden’s tight schedule on his overseas tour of Europe. Before Putin, the American president has already reconnected with G7 and NATO allies, and held meetings with EU leaders, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron.
The upcoming negotiations are to consist of three parts: narrow-format talks and two rounds of extended discussion with a coffee break. The meeting, which will be held under enhanced coronavirus measures, is expected to last 4-5 hours. The presidents will not, however, hold a joint press conference. Putin’s presser will take place before the press conference of his counterpart. While the White House says that a conference in such a format would be most suited, media claimed that Biden made his decision based on the allegedly unfavorable impression Donald Trump left after his summit with the Russian president in 2018.
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