Joe Biden, after his meeting with Vladimir Putin: “The consequences would be devastating for Russia if Navalny died in prison”

Joe biden gave a press conference after the summit he held with Vladimir Putin in Geneva, in which he pointed out that he had made it clear to the Russian President the United States’ commitment to human rights, and referred in particular to the case of opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who is being arbitrarily detained.

“Human rights will always be on the table. How can I be President of the United States and not speak out against human rights violations, even in countries like Russia? That is why we will continue to express our concern about cases like Alexei Navalny.», Declared the North American president from Villa La Grange.

Asked about concerns about the state of health of the Russian opposition leader, Biden was adamant: “I made him understand that the consequences would be devastating for Russia if Navalny died in prison.”

In line with Putin’s statement, Biden indicated that the meeting was “constructive” Yes “positive”, And specified that his agenda “It’s not against Russia”: “It’s for the good of the American people. My responsibility is to protect the people of the United States. “

In addition, he stressed the importance of “The fight against the coronavirus and the restoration of international relations”: “We are showing the world that the United States has come back, that it is with the allies. We have clarified the relationship between the United States and Russia. “

In this sense, he warned that his government “will not tolerate“Russia’s Interference in American Democracy:” I made it clear to her that we would not tolerate and respond to attempts to violate our democratic sovereignty or destabilize our democratic elections. “

He also posed to his Russian counterpart that critical infrastructures must be kept away from cyber attacks: “Regarding cybersecurity, they said they would take measures (…) I pointed out that we have significant cyber capacity, if they violate these rules, we will respond. “

“I gave him a list of” 16 entities “ranging from the energy sector to our water distribution systems,” he added.

For his part, Biden said he spoke with Putin “On the next steps for arms control.” In this regard, he stressed, they agreed “Conversations with experts and diplomats for the control of dangerous weapons that increase the risk of accidental war.”

The President of the United States also expressed his concern to Putin “On the humanitarian aspect of Syria”, and expressed Washington’s commitment to the Iranian regime “Don’t buy nuclear weapons.” He admitted that neither Washington nor Moscow “has an interest in being in a nuclear war”.

“The last thing Putin wants is a new cold war,” Biden said.

After the summit, which lasted about three and a half hours, the first to hold a press conference was Putin, who announced that the parties had agreed that their ambassadors would return. in a small gesture of relaxation in their strained relations.

The ambassadors will “return to their place of work”. “When exactly is a purely technical question,” the Russian president told reporters.

Diplomatic relations between Moscow and Washington had all but been severed since Biden took office in January.

After the American President compared Putin to a “murderer”, Russia took the rare step in March of calling its ambassador Anatoly Antonov. The envoy from the United States, John sullivan, he also returned to Washington.

Despite the tensions, the summit in an elegant villa on the shores of Lake Geneva got off to a good start, with the two leaders shaking hands and taking cautiously positive notes.

“We have differences on several points but the two parties have expressed their desire to understand each other and to reconcile their positions. It has been productive, ”said Putin, who left open the possibility of a prisoner exchange nationals imprisoned in each country, a subject that was discussed at the summit: “We talk about it, there can be compromises”.

The Russian President has been consulted on the situation of the opposition leader Alexei Navalny, whose imprisonment has been criticized by Western countries as a sign of political persecution. “This man knew he was violating the law in force in Russia,” he said, referring to a prison sentence which required Navalny to appear regularly before the prison services.

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