Biden Putin Summit: A missed opportunity

By: Sauro Dasgupta
The recent meeting of President Biden and President Putin in Geneva was rather frosty. This comes after US accused Putin of undermining Russian democracy by jailing opponents, clamping down on independent media, etc. and gone to the extent of calling him a ‘killer’ with Mr Putin challenging Mr Biden to an open debate, which was not welcome by the latter.
It is pertinent to note that US-Russia relations are their lowest point ever since the Cold War. After the invasion of Crimea by Russia in 2014, the Obama administration expelled Russia from the G8, a group of nations comprising the warring states during the Second World War- US, Canada, UK, France, Russia, Germany, Italy and Japan.
Ever since the Presidential candidate of the Democratic Party in 2016, Hillary Clinton lost to Republican candidate Donald Trump, the Democrats brought forth an ugly ‘Russia collusion’ theory behind the victory of Trump and held that the election had been stolen from them. Having setting up numerous committees bringing out reports like the Mueller Report indicting President Trump and alleged massive Russian, WikiLeaks and social media support during the polls and even with Trump’s aides like Michael Flynn and FBI Director James Comey also opposing Trump and supporting this theory, President Trump could not normalize relations with Russia first by readmitting it in the G7, something that the Democrats opposed too. As a result, during the recent G7 summit at Cornwall, the member states tried to identify the Chinese and Russian threat very seriously.
Russia has in recent years been extremely paranoid about its security challenges. Repeated NATO war games near its borders has forced it to increase its defence budget and move closer to China, India and Pakistan. However, with India being a member of the Quad, it relations with India is also unfortunately becoming colder, though Russian Foreign Minister Mr Sergey Lavrov feels that the West has been trying for a long time to destroy the harmonious relations between India and Russia, with India also asserting that its relations with one country is not dependent and does not affect its relations with other countries.
The relations between India and Russia has always been very warm, given that the USSR was inevitably on our side during the Cold War. After the disintegration of the USSR and the end of the Cold War, India drifted towards the US. But the US, true to its nature, was too possessive of India like it is of other allies in Europe. It wanted India and Turkey to purchase expensive defence equipment from itself and not any cheaper alternative. US threatened to sanction India under CAATSA if we went ahead with our purchase of S400 Triumph anti aircraft weapon system instead of purchasing the Raytheon manufactured Patriot Anti Aircraft Weapon System. After negotiations between the US and Indian defence and External Affairs ministers as well as negotiations between Pakistan and Turkey that US decided to exempt India, Pakistan and Turkey from sanctions under the CAATSA even if they went ahead with any defence purchase from China and Russia.
Russia has for a long time been reduced to a junior partner of China in all fields. It has been conducting military exercises with Pakistan and its leadership, much like any other Right Wing populist leadership like that of Brazil, Iran, Nigeria, Israel, Hungary, China, Pakistan, India has brutally cracked down against protestors and a variety of anti-establishment movements. It has detained its Opposition, muzzled its press, destroyed civil liberties, targeted Unions, killed its enemies in foreign countries, joining the infamous list of countries like Israel, China, Pakistan, US to do so. The lack of freedom to differ from the establishment is reminiscent of the authoritarian populist Tsars like Tsar Nicholas and the Soviet rulers like Lenin and Stalin.
Nevertheless, such meetings of Head of States is needed for coordinating issues like Defence, education and common areas of interests and try to solve disputes. It is important to meet one’s counterparts even if one disagrees. From President Putin’s statements to the press on their discussions, his refuting allegations of Russian cyberattacks , given the fact that even European leaders blamed cyberattacks on Russia while US remained the no.1 cyberattacker in the world, the US support to Opposition leader Alexei Navalny, blasting the US on its concern for the state of human rights in Russia while carrying out interventions in Iraq, Afghanistan, having prisons and torture camps like Abu Gharib, Guantanamo Bay, etc. Bilateral relations can improve only if US agrees to establish detente’ with Russia as it did in the case of USSR and China in the 1970s and the 1980s. The establishment of full diplomatic relations with China in 1972 also brought about a difference. Unless such a policy of reconciliation is adopted, there is no hope of long lasting peace.
The writer is a Research Associate under training at DRaS. He is pursuing a degree in Political Science and International Relations at Jadavpur University. He has published almost 135 writings so far in magazines, journals and newspapers.