Biden Talked and Putin’s Blood Boiled

The two presidents told each other what their problems were with each other and then said goodbye. This was the pointless meeting between President Joe Biden and President Vladimir Putin.

Joe Biden and Vladimir Putin met for the first time this Wednesday in Geneva. András Németh, a journalist at HVG [Ed: a Hungarian new outlet] commented on the rather short meeting in our morning interview.

According to him the question is, what was the point of this summit? It has been known for weeks that they did not agree on anything. He thinks that this summit was poorly put together, since they just wanted to show that they were willing to talk to each other. “The meeting wasn’t even in good humor after Biden stated at the press conference that the reason that there will not be a Cold War is because Russia knows that it’s too weak. That is when Putin’s blood boiled,” Németh said.

According to him, what happened at the meeting was that both parties listed what their problems were with the other, and then Biden quietly thanked him and stood up. The previous U.S.-Russian summit in Helsinki in 2018 was not good-humored either, the low point of which was at a press conference. Donald Trump told Putin the truth about U.S. investigations of Russian covert operations affecting U.S. elections and not to his own state. Allegedly, this was also discussed at the Biden-Putin meeting.

Németh does not believe that “the relationship between the two countries would be improved at the wave of a wand,” and thinks that the two sides recited their own version of events at their separate press conferences. Putin has always proved that they are the good guys, the Americans are the killers. But this is Putin’s routine: “One can’t ask a question that he can’t perfectly answer.” Although an American journalist did manage to fluster Putin when he suggested that all his opponents are dead or in prison, so Putin does not want a “fair political fight.” Putin responded by saying something like, they beat Black people in America.

Putin’s goal was to show that Russia is big and strong, and it worked. Even though every opposition candidate is prohibited from running for office and there are homophobic laws, Putin is showing that Russia is still a world power.

At the same time, daily life in Russia is a different matter. Although military research is progressing well, the decline is felt in everyday life. Wages have not increased in a long time and Russia is lagging behind in scientific research. “Militarily they are strong but living conditions haven’t been improving; in the long run, this will be the end of the Putin regime,” the journalist concluded.

China is currently more dangerous with its enormous economic power. Putin is also afraid that China will modify its border and look to Siberia, which has not always been Russian or Soviet territory, he said.