The US President Joe Biden abandoned a tough approach towards Russia at the Geneva summit for a dialogue on nuclear arms control, former Canadian diplomat Patrick Armstrong told RIA Novosti.
The expert noted that the American side asked for a meeting after two failures of the “tough guy” approach: “the attempted coup d’etat in Belarus and the farce with the” de-occupation of Crimea”.
At the same time, he noted that there was a third failure of the “tough guy”. In the 1990s, he said, Americans felt they no longer needed to pay attention to Russia because they had “won.” However, then Russia “largely outstripped” the United States in the field of strategic weapons. Therefore, some “reasonable” US officials want arms deals, because “Russia’s power cannot be ignored”.
“Thus, one important goal of the meeting was achieved – an agreement to discuss arms control: the American side needs it, and Moscow prefers stability and predictability”, – said Armstrong, a former Minister Counselor at the Canadian Embassy in Moscow.
He added that Washington cannot agree that Russia, as well as China, “will go their own way,” and the “time of teaching” is over.
“Therefore, I do not expect any changes until a new reality comes, which no one in Washington can ignore”, – the ex-diplomat added.
Armstrong welcomed the return of the Russian and US ambassadors.
The first meeting of the Presidents of the Russian Federation and the United States, Vladimir Putin and Joe Biden, took place on Wednesday in Geneva, negotiations lasted 4.5 hours, including a break. As a result, Putin said that he had agreed with Biden to begin consultations on strategic stability at the interdepartmental level. According to him, both countries are aware of their special responsibility for strategic stability in the world. In addition, the presidents adopted a joint statement stating that the Russian Federation and the United States reaffirm their adherence to the principle that there can be no winners in a nuclear war and should never be unleashed.