The Putin-Biden Meeting: What Did it Mean?

Over the years Russian President Vladimir Putin has proved himself a chameleon capable of effectively manipulating his political environment at home and shaping the global media’s coverage of him to obtain his strategic objectives for Russia. So, how do we interpret Putin’s meeting last week with President Joe Biden? Reports coming out of Geneva portray Putin as off message, speaking softly, sounding weak, and rambling. According to analyst Kevin Baron of Defense One, “He looked thoroughly disconnected from his own myth.” Perhaps, the question Washington needs to ask now is “Are we being led down a false path again or is Putin truly a fading dictator standing alone in what appears to be a world unifying against both the Russia and Chinese threat?”

While other dictators in crumbling regimes may stick with Putin, they do so only to receive Russian protection and meager military handouts. Putin knows they are not loyal to him, but only to the supply of goods and money that keep them in power. At home he has to contend with Russian organized crime figures involved in illicit cyber activities and over which he has limited control. Putin also recognizes that there is a narrow window of opportunity for continuing lucrative AI and military sales to China, which Moscow desperately needs to support its military modernization program.

The Putin-Biden meeting ended early, lasting just over three hours. According to Biden, he said the two leaders will look back at the issues discussed in about three to six months to see if any progress has been made. Topics reported under discussion included cyber security, election interference, Ukraine, Afghanistan, and arms control. “I’m not sitting here saying because the president and I agreed that we would do these things that all of a sudden it’s going to work,” Biden said. There were 16 cyber critical infrastructure sectors that he asked Putin not to attack. A senior Biden Administration official called these “destructive” sites versus those typical associated with intelligence gathering. The question analysts in Washington are asking is, ‘Did President Biden just give tacit approval for Russia’s President to attack other sites?’ Does that mean the US will not respond to Russian hacking outside of those areas listed? President Biden did not receive a response from Putin. Instead, it appears he was simply given a cyber roadmap for how far Russia can penetrate the United States without pushback from Washington. Any success in the future may be attributed more to G7 countries and NATO leaders unifying in their opposition to Russian aggression.

A Pfizer sponsored study looked at the effects on 100 women who were either past their menopausal phase or had undergone hysterectomy. buy cialis why not look here was given to correct their sexual arousal disorder. A good pop-up blocker canada in levitra should be able to stop any disease is to stop it naturally. Thousands of satisfied men who were happy with the decision to buy Kamagra Polo online have given raving reviews about this magic pill that how this has sorted out the problem of ED which was being created in their http://mouthsofthesouth.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/MOTS-06.01.19-Faircloth.pdf cialis online sale lives. It provides an all-around benefit, viz. antioxidation, inhibition of hyperpigmentation, replenishment of damaged or dead cells, canada tadalafil increase of collagen, etc.

Putin faces domestic problems at home with a struggling economy and discontent among Russian politicians and businessmen with his policies. With a new cyber roadmap in hand Putin may be able to concentrate Moscow’s offensive cyber warfare efforts in a more efficient way that will be economical and productive. This is not the first time Russia has employed cyberwarfare. It has conducted cyberattacks aimed at the Ukrainian power grid and a Saudi petrochemical plant, among other targets. It appears it will not be the last time the United States comes into Putin’s line of fire.

It is likely the Russian President felt little need to expend much energy during the Biden meeting, as the American President is not known to be strong or adept at handling facts. In referring to how Putin responded to Biden’s off-limits cyber list, Keir Giles, a Russia expert with the London-based Chatham House think tank, said: “There’s no indication at all that he actually went along with it.” When President Obama, in 2015, made a similar request of Chinese leader Xi Jinping, China agreed and then reneged as the hacking cases continued unabated. A common aphorism among Communist leaders is that is not lying if the person with whom you are speaking is not a communist. Did Putin just play Biden? The mainstream media in America will protect Biden at all costs. Only time will tell if the Geneva meeting was a success.

Photo: Vladimir Putin official picture (Russian Government)

Quick Analysis

Russia Expanding Aggression

President Putin is using more than one pathway to enter Europe and undermine the West. While most of the world watches the conflict he initiated in Ukraine, the Russian government is actively pursuing a second front in a little noticed campaign in Cyprus. Although the corrupt Cypriot government ended its issuance of “golden passports” in 2020, Russian intelligence is functioning quietly there to transform this EU country into a Russian beachhead of illicit economic activity aimed at penetrating the capitalist West, according to Paul Goble of the Jamestown Foundation. Cyprus is not a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) nor does it receive as much attention as those countries who are member states. That adds to its allure as a prime location for Russia to attempt to gain a European foothold. Last week a NATO report, cited in the European Daily Monitor, noted that Russian intelligence agents have been plotting to destroy European infrastructure across the continent to disrupt states supporting Ukraine. It further suggests that Putin’s immediate goal is to lay the framework for a future move against the security organization’s members. Hungary, in particular, is another country garnering Moscow’s attention as it opposes the Western response to Russian aggression. Russia is focusing its intelligence efforts on other European, non-NATO member countries in addition to Cyprus, including Austria, Malta, and Ireland. The NATO report suggests that Moscow has had success in disseminating the Russian political narrative in these states to advance its campaign against the West. The island of Cyprus is proving to be a good target for Moscow as it is an ethnically divided island that is part of the EU since 2004. Northern Cyprus, officially called the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), is a de facto state that is only recognized by Turkey. The division precludes it from joining NATO. As Goble suggests, “it offers Russia troubled waters in which to fish.” Over the last 20 years, he points out, Cyprus’ challenges have opened it to a massive influx of Russian citizens, who now comprise approximately 10 percent of the island state’s population. Over 2,900 residents are Russians who entered until the “golden passport” program that allowed wealthy or well-connected Russians to move to Cyprus. It also provided them with documentation to travel freely throughout Europe! Although less visible on the world’s radar than the war in Ukraine, Moscow is also being helped by Cyprus’ banks opposition to seizing Russian assets and its support in evading Western sanctions. Russia has placed tens of billions of US Dollars there for money laundering. It has been more than two years since a single Russian “diplomat” has been deported and, in fact, the Embassy has grown to over 300 staffers on this tiny island state of only 1.2 million people. The Russian embassy in Nicosia has advanced communications antennae on its roof and opened a consulate on the northern end of the island. Moscow’s Ambassador, Mura Zyazikov, is a lieutenant general in the FSB with no diplomatic experience. The FSB, SVR (Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service), and GRU are actively using the island as a base of operations against NATO Member states, Israel, and other Western allies. Moscow backs pro-Russian political parties who in turn influence Cypriot decisions on education, language, and other issues. “Dmitry Khmelnitsky of the Dossier Center says that its findings should be of concern not only to Cyprus but to the West as a whole. Those who ignore what Moscow is doing because Cyprus does not follow the EU sanctions regime are missing something critical,” says Goble. “Cyprus does not seek to get rid of Russian agents and does not interfere with their work,” Khmelnitsky concludes, “despite the fact that what the Kremlin is doing is so clearly visible.” This has an impact not only on the small island but on the EU, NATO, and the West in general. Earlier this year the Moscow Times reported that when the FBI became more interested in Russian business and oligarchs in Cyprus, at least 10 of the major Russian businesses operating there left. Despite the government of Cyprus’ vow to implement plans for new sanctions against Russia, it continues to ignore Putin’s atrocities in Ukraine and to shield the wealth of the 50,000 wealthy Russian citizens and oligarchs residing there. Daria Novak served in the U.S. State Dept. Illustration: Pixabay