Post-Trump: Biden Sends A Clear Message About A Different America To Both Europe And Russia

“America is back” – this is exactly the motto that Biden brings to meetings with world leaders, whose victory in last year’s presidential election undoubtedly came as a relief to American partners after four difficult years with Donald. Trump.

The US president will also interact with the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Boris Johnson, who last year did not hide that another term of D. Trump will be more favorable for London, both with Queen Elizabeth II and with the autocratic leaders of Turkey and Russia. .

However, there is no doubt that the meeting with Vladimir Putin, whose idea was raised by Biden, who called the Russian leader a “murderer” earlier this year, is too early. Who should contact if there is no agreement at this time?

Trying to make amends

In many speeches, both before and after the elections, J. Biden made it clear that he regards the 21st century as a century of opposition between democracy and autocracy.

The 78-year-old president of the United States, considered perhaps the most experienced foreign policy leader in the United States, is entering a scenario in which China speaks more and more boldly and in which, last year, Trump sowed doubts. on Washington’s credibility.

“Biden and other members of his team from all the countries they are trying to persuade will hear questions about whether we can believe what we hear. Look at what happened to the deal on Iran’s nuclear program: the former president broke it.

What will happen if, after four years, a Short or Short clone reappears in the White House? What good is negotiating with you if deals break down so easily?

I think the Biden people understand that America’s reputation as a credible ally has been damaged, “Sir Peter Westmacott, former British ambassador to the United States, told The Guarsian.

Biden has had something to do at home for the past month and a half: The ongoing fight against the coronavirus, which has now turned into an effort to vaccinate as many Americans as possible, had to agree to aid for the economy.

Now the US president is trying to make up for it and, unlike Trump, who made his first trip to the conservative Saudi monarchy, he will travel to the UK, Belgium and Switzerland; analysts say that is also a sign.

I will be interested in the subject of Northern Ireland.

The first was a meeting with Johnson, during which, according to the White House, “the strength of the special relations between the US and the UK will be confirmed.”

The two leaders will meet face to face for the first time and the meeting can be quite strange. In 2019, Biden called Johnson a “physical and emotional clone of Trump.”

“Biden never thought Brexit was a good idea, he didn’t like Boris’s offensive rhetoric and was bothered by the pretty clear signs that Downing Street would be happy with Trump for another four years. That mood needs to be brought under control,” Westmacott said .

On the agenda are the coronavirus pandemic, the global corporate tax initiative, the Chinese challenge, the deal on Iran’s nuclear program and the United Nations conference in Glasgow, Scotland, in November.

It is true that Biden, who is very proud of his Irish origins, has already warned that the United States and the United Kingdom’s chances of reaching a trade agreement will depend on the respect of the Good Friday agreement: it ended decades of violence in Ireland from the North in 1998.

“Biden will probably be interested not only in how Brexit is doing, but also in assessing what the prime minister thinks about the situation in Northern Ireland. Biden really cares about the issue because he is an Irish Catholic.

It will show Johnson that America is important, “Westmacott said.

An opportunity to show that America is back

The G-7 route will take place in Cornwall from June 11-13. There will be talk of pandemic, economic recovery, climate and, according to the White House, “solidarity and common values ​​among the great democracies.”

For J. Biden, this conference is the first opportunity to communicate closely with his closest associates and bury Trump’s favorite mantra, “America first,” in great depth.

“Biden has an opportunity to restore America’s role as a world leader. There is no question that confidence in the United States has plummeted because of Trump’s decision to communicate with the Allies,” said Leon Panetta, former Secretary of Defense of the United States. United States and director of the Central Intelligence Agency.

According to this great veteran of American politics, Biden should simply try to repair the damage: “He can do it, but it must also be recognized that the Allies are trying to see if what is said will be temporary again.”

Leaders of other countries have been speculating for four years about what Trump wants from them. Some, like German Chancellor Angela Merkel, stayed away from him, others tried to please him. Now it’s easier to sigh, it’s true, everyone can.

“The other G-7s and the world at large are sending the message that America has never backed down, that Donald Trump was a total anomaly in American history, and that Biden means normalcy.”

It’s not the kind of normal that I agree with, but it’s normalcy comparable to, say, George W. Bush on the Republican side. Short has no ideology, no triumph. “Cutting is wrong,” said John Bolton, Trump’s former national security adviser.

Biden will be received by Queen Elizabeth II at Windsor Castle on June 13, and the next day the American leader will travel to Brussels to attend the NATO summit and highlight the United States’ commitment to collective security.

In Brussels, Biden will also meet Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who was recently greatly offended when the American president acknowledged the Armenian genocide of 1915.

There, in the Belgian capital, the EU leader is also waiting for an EU-US summit. During it, Washington and Brussels are expected to at least try to form a more united approach to China’s challenge, and Biden will also be greeted by King Philippe of Belgium and Prime Minister Alexander De Croo.

Promise to support allies

Finally, on June 16, we flew to Geneva, where the most anticipated meeting will take place, with Russian President Putin.

Biden said in February that he had warned Putin that “the days when the United States freely allowed Russia to act aggressively, interfere in our elections, stage cyberattacks, poison its citizens, are over.”

In March, the US president did not object when the journalist called Putin a “murderer”, and in a comment a few days before his next trip to Europe, he stressed that the United States would support its allies in Europe in their dealings with Russia.

“We will unanimously address Russia’s challenges to European security, beginning with Russian aggression in Ukraine, and there will be no question about America’s determination to uphold our democratic values, which we cannot separate from our own interests,” Biden wrote.

There is no doubt that this meeting will be different from the cozy meeting of D. Trump and V. Putin in Helsinki in 2018. Bolton recalled: “After a conversation aloud with only the translators, our translator told us that, firstly Second, Putin had been speaking almost the entire time, and secondly, that Syria had been speaking almost exclusively. “

“So I am satisfied: the less Trump says, the less risk,” said Bolton, who still believes it is too early to meet now with Russian President Biden. – The meeting will take place when you have a communication strategy with Russia ready. I don’t think he (Biden, ed.) Has it.

I’m surprised to say that myself because Biden has worked in foreign policy for many decades, but I think his approach lacks coherence. “

Why right now?

Other analysts, such as Alina Poliakova, director of the European Center for Policy Analysis, also have doubts about the date of the meeting.

“I just learned that the meeting was taking place in general. In diplomacy, these types of meetings are usually held as the final axis of negotiations or on the occasion of the announcement of some complex agreement.

And now, looking at the relationship between Russia and the United States, I don’t see what cooperation between the two countries could do, because the interests are quite the opposite. The question is then: what is the purpose of this meeting? Why did Biden offer to organize it? ”Asked A. Poliakova.

Biden is coming under pressure from Democrats and Republicans to speak out about cyberattacks, programmers, human rights abuses, Kremlin pressure on Kiev, interference in democratic elections in the West, and energy manipulation.

“It is easy to say that we are going to talk about difficult topics. It is much more difficult to do that, especially when it comes to Putin. It is very pointed and is used constantly. whataboutizmą.

If President Biden talks about Alexei Navalna, he should be ready for Putin’s response to the activists allegedly illegally detained on January 6, during the Captain’s assault. “He’s extremely cynical, but Russia is behaving like this,” said Michael McFaul, a former US ambassador to Russia.

By the way, he is convinced that the Biden meetings in Brussels will be even more important: “Biden talks about the struggle of democracies against autocracies. Not only Trump but Barack Obama did not say that.”