President Joe Biden revealed on June 13 why he decided to avoid a joint press conference with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Switzerland next week.
“I always found, and I don’t mean to suggest the press should not know, but this is not a contest about who can do better in front of a press conference or try to embarrass each other,” Biden told reporters at a press conference at the Cornwall Airport Newquay in England.
“It’s about making myself very clear what the conditions are to get a better relationship are with Russia.”
In 2018, when President Donald Trump met with Putin in person and held a joint news conference, corporate media outlets launched attacks against Trump and suggested the joint appearance meant the two had a cozy relationship. It came amid then-special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into whether Trump’s campaign colluded with Russia during the 2016 election. Mueller, after a 22-month investigation, ultimately turned up “insufficient evidence” to support the allegations.
“I think the best way to deal with this is for he and I to meet, he and I to have our discussion. I know you don’t doubt that I’ll be very straightforward with him about our concerns, and I will make clear my view of how that meeting turned out and he’ll make clear from his perspective how it turned out,” Biden said.
Biden then seemed to make reference to the possibility that the meeting would trigger rampant speculation from the press.
“I don’t want to get into being diverted by, did they shake hands, who talked the most, and the rest,” he said.
During the Group of Seven (G-7) summit on June 13, the president said he would raise concerns during his meeting with Putin.
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