US President Joe Biden explained the decision not to hold a joint press conference with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin by the fact that this is not a competition to see who will speak to journalists better.
He agrees with the head of the Russian state that relations between the two countries have “sunk to their lowest point.” At the same time, according to the American president, Washington is not looking for a conflict with Moscow.
“This is not a competition who will perform better before the press conference,” Biden said after the G7 summit.
However, according to the American president, the United States is not looking for conflict in relations with Russia. “We want to resolve the issue of actions that, in our opinion, do not meet international standards,” he said.
The resident of the United States said that the American authorities are ready to prosecute hackers from the United States who commit crimes against Russia. “If crimes have been committed against Russia, and in reality, the people who committed them are in the United States, then I am committed to holding them accountable,” he said.
Speaking about the upcoming summit, Joe Biden noted that he was going to discuss “violations of international norms” with Vladimir Putin.
On June 16, the Russian-US summit will take place in Geneva. According to The New York Times, the White House’s rejection of the joint speech is due to the fact that Vladimir Putin “seemed to take over Donald Trump” during a joint press conference in Helsinki in 2018.
