Biden and Putin plan more arms control talks

Former US President Donald Trump wasn’t interested in making the content before his summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin in 2018 – and preferred to watch football. At least that’s what Trump’s former national security adviser, John Bolton, reports.

Trump met Putin on July 16, 2018 – a day after the World Cup final in Russia – in Helsinki, Finland.

“On the way to Finland, the World Cup was being held in Air Force One,” Bolton told news portal T Online. I wanted to inform Trump about the arms control negotiations, but Trump mainly watched football, so the whole thing was useless.

“Putin is always ready”

Trump’s successor Joe Biden, who will meet Putin in Geneva on Wednesday, has warned Bolton about the Russian president’s negotiating skills. “Putin is always very well prepared, no matter who is sitting in front of him, and he can talk seriously and in detail about any topic that comes up,” the distinctive mustache foreign policy hawk told T Online. “Joe Biden needs to be careful that Putin doesn’t dominate the conversation.”

^{US President Donald Trump is said to have not prepared well before his summit meeting with Kremlin President Vladimir Putin in 2018. (Photo: Keystone)}

According to Bolton, who has turned into a fierce critic of Trump in recent years, Biden must achieve his goals. Biden’s main goal is to show that he is tougher on Russia than Trump has been. It will not be difficult, after all, Trump has not been harsh with Moscow, at least not in his speech. ”

Critics have repeatedly accused Trump of excessive compliance with Putin. At the Helsinki summit in 2018, Trump caused an uproar, among other things, because he did not support the US intelligence community’s assessment that Russia interfered in the US presidential election in 2016. Instead, Trump said Putin’s denial was “very strong and powerful.”