Biden Says Separate Press Conferences At Upcoming Meeting With Putin 'Not A Contest'

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 13th June, 2021) US President Joe Biden on Sunday said that separate press conferences with Russia's Vladimir Putin in Geneva were not a matter of "contest."

"I've also found, and I don't mean to suggest that the press should not know, but this not a contest about who can do better in front of a press conference or try to embarrass each other. It's about making myself very clear what the conditions to get a better relationship with Russia are," Biden said at a press conference after the conclusion of the G7 summit.

Earlier this week, US media reported that Biden had decided to hold a separate press conference after the Geneva summit with Putin on June 16, since Biden's top aides were wary about a joint presser, aiming to avoid the scenario of the Helsinki summit in 2018. Back then, former US leader Donald Trump welcomed Putin's statements about non-interference in the 2016 presidential elections in the US, dismissing data presented by the national intelligence.