Geneva Summit Conference (2021)

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Joe Biden and Vladimir Putin in the library of the Villa La Grange in Geneva
Villa La Grange (2011)

The Geneva summit conference (officially in Russia Russian Саммит Россия-США , in the USA English US-Russia summit ) was a summit meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Joe Biden on June 16, 2021 at Villa La Grange in Geneva .

prehistory

In the early summer of 2021, during a public speech at a meeting with US troops at the British military airfield RAF Mildenhall , US President Joe Biden mentioned that he would like a face-to-face meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in view of the deep tensions in relations with Russia. He wanted to explain the US government's view of various strategic problems in recent years and the human rights situation in Russia .

Shortly afterwards, the governments of both states agreed that a meeting of their presidents should take place in the near future. They accepted the proposal of the Swiss government to choose the city of Geneva, which is familiar with the organization of international events, as the conference venue. From the US point of view, the provisional name for the event was initially “Geneva Summit” and was only changed to “US – Russia Summit” a few days before the meeting.

For President Biden, the stay in Geneva marked the end of his first trip abroad, during which he previously attended the G7 summit in St Ives, UK, and the NATO summit in Brussels . In an article in the Washington Post in advance, Biden declared his intention to use this trip to consolidate the cohesion of the democratically governed states.

A few weeks before the summit meeting were to plan the event in Geneva. The canton of Geneva and the city, federal authorities and the Swiss Army prepared the stay and support for the conference participants, their numerous companions and a large number of media representatives. They had to meet the high expectations of the Russian and US security forces. Because of the proximity of the border with France , the Swiss authorities worked closely with French security forces. For example, France took over the surveillance of the airspace on its national territory, while the Swiss Air Force issued a flight ban around the conference venue over its own territory.

The commander of the Geneva canton police, Monica Bonfanti, was responsible for the security measures at the summit, and Marion Bordier Büschi, chief of protocol for the canton of Geneva, was responsible for running the meeting. After consultation between the Swiss authorities and representatives of both countries, the historic country house in Parc La Grange was chosen as the location for the summit discussion.

The extensive area of ​​Parc La Grange was secured and monitored with barricades and Villa La Grange was prepared for the conversation; at the request of the US, for example, the rooms in the historic building had to be air-conditioned. The area around the Hotel Intercontinental - where Biden stayed from June 15 to 16 - was cordoned off to passers-by, as was the city center on Lake Geneva during the conference .

Special precautions were taken at Geneva Cointrin International Airport , through which commercial travel continued with only minor interruptions during the summit meeting. The parking spaces for the numerous special aircraft from the USA and Russia were specially secured. The Swiss Army protected the airport with a specially deployed battalion.

media

Around 3,000 media representatives reported directly from Geneva on the event. Radio Télévision Suisse produced the television reports on the summit on behalf of the European Broadcasting Union .

On the shores of Lake Geneva, the canton of Geneva set up a media center with a grandstand from which media representatives could watch the events in Parc La Grange. Only selected Russian and US journalists were accredited to the meeting at Villa La Grange .

Attendees

United States delegation

Accompanying persons:

Delegation of the Russian Federation

Accompanying persons:

expectations

According to information from both sides, arms control and disarmament issues , human rights , cybersecurity , the COVID-19 pandemic and the war on terror were on the agenda at the relatively short summit .

The Crimean crisis , because of which the USA suspended military cooperation with Russia in 2014, is a difficult international point of conflict .

procedure

Federal President Guy Parmelin welcomes Joe Biden and Vladimir Putin

In the run-up to the summit, the two state presidents had high expectations of the interlocutor published in the media and did not hold back from accusing the governments of the other side because of political events in recent years.

Biden traveled from Brussels to Geneva the day before, while Putin did not reach the conference venue until June 16. On the evening of June 15, a meeting between Biden and Blinken took place in Geneva with the Swiss Federal President Guy Parmelin and the head of the FDFA , Ignazio Cassis .

In the early afternoon of June 16, Parmelin officially welcomed his two colleagues Biden and Putin as guests of Switzerland in front of Villa La Grange.

After the talks between the presidents and those accompanying them in Villa La Grange - which lasted about three and a half hours - Putin successively informed about the meeting at a press conference in a media center in Park La Grange and Biden in a similar setting immediately next to it in Parc des Eaux-Vives . Before leaving, Putin also met Parmelin for a conversation.

criticism

On June 15 and 16, various protests took place on the large Plaine de Plainpalais in Geneva . People from Syria and Armenia , among others, gathered to protest against Russian policies regarding these states. A demonstration by Russian citizens called for an end to the repression against Alexei Navalny by the Russian government.

The Geneva authorities refused to allow several rallies in the run-up to the summit, which led to allegations of restricting fundamental rights .

See also

Web links

Commons : 2021 Russia – United States summit  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Footnotes

  1. Эксперт назвала преимущества виллы, где пройдет саммит Россия - США. June 14, 2021, accessed June 15, 2021 (Russian).
  2. Summit of Biden and Putin: Geneva is ready for the historic meeting. NZZ, June 16, 2021.
  3. Kevin Liptak: Biden warns he'll tell Putin 'what I want him to know' as he defines goals of foreign tour. CNN, June 9, 2019.
  4. Christoph Bernet: Geneva flies out of the name: The «Geneva Summit» becomes the «US - Russia Summit». tagblatt.ch, June 11, 2016.
  5. ^ Joe Biden: My trip to Europe is about America rallying the world's democracies. In: The Washington Post , June 6, 2012.
  6. ^ Biden-Putin summit - Federal Council restricts airspace over Geneva. srf.ch, June 11, 2021, accessed on June 11, 2021.
  7. ^ Stephanie Nebehay: Biden, Putin set to meet in 18th-century Swiss villa for summit. reuters.com, June 9, 2021, accessed June 11, 2021.
  8. ^ Matt Viser: Biden, Putin to meet next month in Geneva, the first face-to-face session between the two leaders. The Washington Post , May 25, 2021, accessed June 11, 2021.
  9. ^ Rencontre Etats-Unis - Russie du 16 June 2021: un défi sécuritaire pour la police genevoise et ses partenaires. June 11, 2021, accessed June 15, 2021.
  10. Comment Genève aéroport prepare l'arrivée VIP de Biden et Poutine. watson.ch, June 11, 2021, accessed on June 14, 2021.
  11. ^ Christian Lecomte: L'aéroport de Genève attend les grands de ce monde avec armes et bagages. Le Temps, June 14th 2021.
  12. Sommet Biden-Poutine. La presse international converge à Genève. tdg.ch, June 15, 2021.
  13. Putin says he hopes Geneva summit will help improve ties with the US Fortune, June 4, 2021.
  14. ^ Anthony Zurcher: Biden-Putin summit: Awkward conversation looms in Geneva. British Broadcasting Corporation, May 25, 2021.
  15. 5 Things To Watch At The Biden-Putin Summit. npr.org, June 14, 2021.
  16. Joe Biden arrive ce mardi à Genève avant de se mesurer à Poutine. swissinfo.ch, June 15, 2021.
  17. ^ Brian Bennett, How Biden Plans to Get Tough On Vladimir Putin in Their Geneva Summit. Time, June 11, 2021, accessed June 15, 2021.
  18. L'horaire se précise, Joe Biden attendu at 4:15 p.m. in Genève. rts.ch, June 15, 2021.
  19. Sommet Biden-Poutine: Le président américain a atterri à Genève. Le Nouvelliste , June 15, 2021.
  20. Face to face: Biden, Putin meet for long-anticipated summit. apnews.com, June 16, 2021.
  21. Biden-Putin Summit: Why Geneva Is Accused of Forgetting Freedom of Expression. In: watson.ch. June 16, 2021, accessed June 16, 2021 .