„I don’t want to get into being diverted by ‚did they shake hands, who talked the most‘ and the rest,“ said the U.S. president.
U.S. President Joe Biden has defended his decision to hold a solo press conference without Russian President Vladimir Putin following their high-stakes meeting next Wednesday. During a press conference at the end of the Group of Seven (G7) summit in the U.K. on Sunday, Biden told reporters that he’s not conducting a joint conference with Putin because „this is not a contest about who can do better in front of a press conference and try to embarrass each other.“ „It is about making myself very clear what the conditions are to get a better relationship with Russia. We’re not looking for conflict, we are looking to resolve those actions that we think are inconsistent with international norms,“ he continued. „The bottom line is that I think the best way to deal with this is for he and I to meet. He and I have to have our discussion.“ Biden added: „I know you don’t doubt that I’ll be very straightforward with him about our concerns and I will make clear my view of how that meeting turned out and he’ll make clear from his perspective how it turned out.
