President Biden will leave Europe with good feeling’s from all around….
The Russian President two sit-downs had the media excited but will probably result in little , except that Trump’s era is over for Putin….
The first summit between President Biden and President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia concluded on Wednesday after four hours of discussions on a range of difficult issues that divide the two nations.
The high-stakes diplomatic engagement came at the end of a whirlwind weeklong European tour for Mr. Biden in which he sought to rebuild and strengthen the traditional alliances that often bolstered the United States’ position during the Cold War.
It was a meeting freighted with history and fraught with challenge.
Mr. Biden has argued that the world is at an “inflection point,” with an existential battle underway between democracy and autocracy. And with Mr. Putin at the vanguard of the autocrats, the American leader faced criticism from some quarters for even taking part in the summit….
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The two men were expected to touch on a range of difficult topics, from military threats to human rights concerns.
Some were longstanding, others of newer vintage. During the Cold War, the prospect of nuclear annihilation led to historic treaties and a framework that kept the world from blowing itself up. At this meeting, for the first time, cyberweapons — with their own huge potential to wreak havoc — were at the center of the agenda.
While there was no expectation that the two sides would agree on formal rules to navigate the digital landscape, both Washington and Moscow have talked about a desire for stability. Mr. Biden was expected to single out the rising scourge of ransomware, much of it emanating from hackers in Russia, although Mr. Putin has denied having anything to do with it.
The White House had said that Mr. Biden would also raise the issues of Mr. Putin’s repression of his domestic political opposition, Moscow’s aggression toward Ukraine and foreign election interference.
The Kremlin has said that there are areas of common ground, like climate change, where the two sides can find agreement. And for Mr. Putin, the symbolism of the summit itself was important to demonstrate the respect he seeks on the world stage….
image…Doug Mills/NY Times
