Russia–US peace talks: From Bill Clinton to Joe Biden – list of presidents who met Vladimir Putin

Former US presidents (AP pictures)

Vladimir Putin is not any stranger to high-level talks with US presidents. Over his many years as Russia’s chief serving both as president or prime minister he has held excessive profile conferences with 5 American presidents.On Friday, he’ll meet Donald Trump in Alaska. This assembly is taken into account one of probably the most important for the reason that Russia-Ukraine battle and their controversial 2018 summit in Helsinki, Finland. It shall be their first assembly of Trump’s second time period.

Trump has made ending the battle a prime precedence, setting an August 8 deadline for Putin to agree to a ceasefire or face robust sanctions. That deadline has handed with out an settlement. The Alaska assembly will even mark Putin’s first go to to the United States since 2015 and his eighth general as president, as reported by ABC News. Putin has met each US president since Bill Clinton, however such conferences have turn into much less widespread lately, significantly after Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014, army intervention in Syria in 2015 and interference within the 2016 US election. No US president has visited Russia since Barack Obama attended the G20 summit in St Petersburg in 2013.

Bill Clinton:

Vladimir Putin and Bill Clinton first met when Putin was serving as Russia’s prime minister. However, their first official summit befell in June 2000 in Moscow, as Clinton’s presidency was nearing its finish and Putin had simply assumed the presidency.The assembly, held practically a decade after the top of the Cold War, centered largely on arms management.Speaking at a press briefing, Clinton mentioned of Putin, “I think he is fully capable of building a prosperous, strong Russia while preserving freedom and pluralism and the rule of law. It’s a big challenge. I think he’s fully capable of doing it.”Putin, in flip, described Clinton as a “very experienced politician”.“In my mind, we’ve established now not only good business ties, but also personal relations. For me, President Clinton is a person who is a very comfortable and pleasant partner in negotiations,” Putin mentioned.

George W Bush:

George W Bush and Vladimir Putin held their first summit in Slovenia in June 2001. After the assembly, Bush referred to as it “an important step in building a constructive, respectful relationship with Russia.”When requested if he may belief Russia, Bush mentioned that he discovered Putin “very straightforward and trustworthy ”. Putin described their dialogue as “very interesting and positive”. The two leaders went on to meet a number of extra instances, together with a 2002 go to to Moscow the place they signed a treaty to scale back their nations’ nuclear arsenals. Putin additionally made a number of journeys to the US, visiting Bush’s ranch in Texas and his household house in Kennebunkport, Maine.However, relations strained over time, significantly after Russia opposed the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003. Tensions grew in 2008 in the course of the Beijing Summer Olympics, when Bush confronted then–Prime Minister Putin over Russia’s army assault on neighboring Georgia.

Barack Obama:

During the early years of Barack Obama’s presidency, Vladimir Putin served as Russia’s prime minister. Obama first met Putin in July 2009 in Moscow, alongside then–Russian President Dmitry Medvedev. At the time, Obama mentioned he wished to interact not solely together with his official counterpart but in addition with Putin and “all other influential sectors in Russian society” to higher perceive the wants and issues of the Russian individuals.Putin returned to the presidency in 2012. The following 12 months, the White House canceled a deliberate Moscow summit, citing Russia’s “disappointing decision” to grant asylum to US nationwide safety leaker Edward Snowden and the dearth of progress on the bilateral agenda.Relations worsened additional after Russia’s 2014 invasion and unlawful annexation of Crimea, in addition to Moscow’s army assist for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, whom Washington had referred to as to step down. Obama and Putin didn’t maintain a proper assembly once more till September 2015, after they met on the United Nations General Assembly in New York. This was Putin’s final go to to the US earlier than the deliberate Alaska summit.

Donald Trump – 1st time period:

Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin first met as presidents in July 2017 in the course of the G20 summit in Hamburg, Germany. One of their most notable and controversial summits got here a 12 months later in Helsinki, in July 2018, the place the 2 leaders held a non-public assembly for practically two hours with solely interpreters current.After the press convention, whereas standing subsequent to Putin, Trump appeared to consider Putin’s denial of election interference as a substitute of US intelligence experiences.“[Putin] just said it’s not Russia. I will say this: I don’t see any reason why it would be,” Trump mentioned. He added, “I have great confidence in my intelligence people, but I will tell you that President Putin was extremely strong and powerful in his denial today.”When requested why Trump ought to consider Moscow’s denial, Putin replied, “You can trust no one,” dismissing US intelligence conclusions as “utter nonsense.” He additionally admitted he wished Trump to win the 2016 election as a result of the Republican candidate spoke about restoring US-Russia relations.The remarks sparked widespread bipartisan criticism in Washington. The subsequent day, Trump walked again his assertion, saying he had misspoken and meant to say, “I don’t see any reason why it wouldn’t be Russia.”Later in 2018, Trump canceled a deliberate assembly with Putin on the G20 summit in Argentina, citing Russia’s refusal to launch Ukrainian Navy ships and sailors seized close to Crimea.

Joe Biden:

Joe Biden has met with Vladimir Putin as soon as throughout his presidency in Geneva in June 2021. Biden requested for the high-stakes assembly amid rising issues over Russia’s army aggression towards Ukraine.After greater than three hours of talks, Biden described the assembly as “positive”. Putin referred to as the dialogue “quite constructive” however insisted that Russia’s actions in Ukraine weren’t America’s concern.