President Joe Biden is opening up about why he has opted not to hold a joint press conference with Russian President Vladimir Putin after their summit.
On Sunday, The Associated Press’ Jonathan Lemire noted that Putin has said that U.S.-Russia relations are at a low point. He also noted that Biden has said he would not be afraid to call out Russia’s malign actions and asked why he is not holding a joint press conference to confront Putin in public.
“You have said previously and in the run-up to the summit that you’d be unafraid to call out Russia’s disruptive actions like cyber hacks, Ukraine, election interference, but you’re not having a joint press conference with Putin. Why not take a chance to stand side-by-side with him and say those things to him with the world watching?” Lemire asked.
Biden responded by agreeing that relations between to the countries are at a low-point.
Watch the video below:
Pressed on not having a joint press conference with Russian Pres. Vladimir Putin at their upcoming summit, Pres. Biden says, "this is not a contest about who can do better in front of a press conference or try to embarrass each other." https://t.co/j0qb7FVKTt pic.twitter.com/5Oy6k9YGri
— This Week (@ThisWeekABC) June 13, 2021
But said he was not going to hold a press conference with Putin because “this is not a contest about who can do better in front of a press conference and try to embarrass each other. It is about making myself very clear what the conditions are to get a better relationship with Russia.”
“The bottom line is that I think the best way to deal with this is for he and I to meet, he and I have to have our discussion. I know you don’t doubt that I’ll be very straightforward with him about our concerns,” he continued.
Finally, Biden said, “And I will make clear my view of how that meeting turned out, and he’ll make clear from his perspective how it turned out. But I don’t want to get into being diverted by did they shake hands, who talked the most and the rest. Now he can say what he said the meeting was about. And I will say what I think the meeting was about. That’s how I’m going to handle it.”