The eyes of entire world were focused on the outcome of the closed-door meeting held on Wednesday between US President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Geneva, Switzerland. They didn’t arrange a joint press conference, but issued a joint statement. The leaders, however, answered newsmen’s queries in solo conferences after the summit.
Interestingly, both the leaders though praised each other showing diplomatic courtesy, didn’t forget to encounter each other on crucial bilateral and international issues. Both Mr Biden and Mr. Putin separately gave a somewhat similar description of domestic and diplomatic policies from their respective angles.
Mr. Putin said, “It seems to me that we did speak the same language.”
He also acknowledged the meeting with Mr. Biden was “constructive”. But it is still not clear how the two countries are to address their most difficult challenges. And nobody believes that Mr. Biden at this stage could do a magic.
What Mr Putin has categorically said is that Mr. Biden’s predecessor had a different view, and Biden’s reply was “different from Trump.” But interestingly Biden described Russia and the United States as “two great powers”.
As far as the human rights and democratic issues are concerned, President Putin cannot win. President Biden explained human rights and democracy are American values. Without them America is not America. So the US has to for human rights. But that is unrealistic. Putin cannot respect human rights and survive. Both his regimented system and he himself vanish. Instead Biden must help the alternative system of democracy and freedom in the countries where the people are fighting gun power dictators. Mr Biden must insist that the army is not for killing the people who pay them. They must remain professional army for war. So the competition between US and Russia should be on pushing human rights where the people are aspiring for democracy. Russia cannot enter this competition against gun power autocracy.
Here President Putin cannot win without destroying the system and himself. Let there be competition and cooperation in other fields. Russia feels insecure for the inhuman iron-fisted system. Let Putin and other communist countries fight the human rights problem of their own. Communist countries will collapse from within by the spread of democracy and human rights the world over. Human rights are the US ideals, but human rights are for humanity everywhere.
