By Alexander Smith - NBC News
Russian leader Vladimir Putin knows that Wednesday's summit with President Joe Biden is not a friendly event, as
relations between the two countries are at their lowest point since the Cold War.
But Putin has probably already achieved his main goal by the time he and Biden shook hands, some experts say.
For the Russian president, the mere fact of being invited to such a high-level summit by the world's most powerful leader already gives an air of superpower status to Russia, a country that actually has an economy smaller than that of Russia. Canada or Italy, and which some consider is
no longer among Washington's top priorities.
The Russian leader wants to give the impression that he "and Biden are the same, that Russia and the United States are equal, and that Russia cannot, as Putin would say, take orders from the United States," says James Nixey, director of the programs of Russia-Eurasia and Europe at Chatham House, a think tank in London.
They asked him twice if he is a murderer and this is what Vladimir Putin answered
June 14, 202101: 08
The two leaders met at a highly choreographed summit in the Swiss city of Geneva on Wednesday.
Biden first raised the idea during a call with Putin in April, during which he told the Russian leader that he would expel Russian diplomats in response to Moscow's alleged interference in last year's U.S. presidential election, which, like everyone else, crimes attributed to his country, Putin denies.
During an interview this weekend with NBC News, Telemundo's sister network, Putin raised the possibility of cooperating with Biden on issues such as gun control, cybercrime and outer space.
However, the White House downplayed expectations of the meeting.
People familiar with the planning said
the best-case scenario was a bug-free event,
in which Biden delivered a tough message that contrasts with former President Donald Trump's approach, often criticized as too weak on Putin.
Some international observers believe that the White House wants to send a message of firmness regarding Russia, while at the same time
putting the issue in the background so that it can focus on its real priorities: China, the coronavirus and climate change.
The United States "wants to pay as little attention as possible to Russia,
" Mark Galeotti, director of Mayak Intelligence consultancy, said on his
In Moscow's Shadows
podcast
this week.
"Because there are other priorities," he adds.
Russian President Vladimir Putin (left) greets US President Joe Biden (right) during the 2021 United States - Russia Summit at La Grange Villa near Lake Geneva on June 16, 2021 in Geneva, Switzerland.Mikhail Svetlov / Getty Images
However, Putin probably gave the interview to NBC News "to prepare Biden for these tough negotiations," according to Nixey.
"At first glance, you wonder what's the point of doing these kinds of interviews," Nixey said, "he doesn't have to convince the American public, he's a pretty deep-rooted autocrat in his own country, and he doesn't hold the United States or the West very high in esteem in general".
The answer is that
the interview was not directed at any of these people, but at Biden himself.
"Biden then is forced to watch this show, he has to listen to what Putin says, or at least be informed about it in depth," Nixey said.
"What does Putin want from the summit? He
wants recognition of Russia's status as a major player on the world stage
and a resumption of strategic stability talks," he adds.
Few expected courtesies when Biden and Putin got together.
When they met in 2011, when Biden was vice president and Putin prime minister,
the now president told him: "I don't think you have a soul,"
as he later recounted in an interview with the New Yorker magazine.
In March, Biden agreed with an interviewer that
Putin was a "murderer."
That came after his government imposed sanctions on Russian officials after US intelligence officials said they had "high confidence" that
the poisoning of opponent Alexei Navalny was carried out by Russia's Federal Security Service
.
This is what Vladimir Putin said when he compared Joe Biden to Donald Trump in an interview
June 11, 202100: 58
In his interview with NBC News, Putin denied involvement in the Navalny assassination attempt and
dismissed the "murderer" comment as something of a "Hollywood macho."
Putin said: "During my tenure, I have become used to attacks from all kinds of angles and from all kinds of areas with all kinds of pretexts and reasons and of different caliber and ferocity, and none of that surprises me."
Putin relied on the Kremlin's proven strategy of deflecting criticism by pointing to America's failures, suggesting that criticism from the West is hypocritical because
all countries, including Russia and the United States, act in their own interest.
"We have a saying:
'Don't be mad at the mirror if you're ugly," he
said.
For American observers of Russia, such as Michael McFaul, the US ambassador to Russia during the Obama Administration, this is a familiar approach.
"He loves to play that 'look at yourself' game, comparing things that are not equivalent," McFaul said.
