Presidents Biden and Putin ‘Understand One Another’

 

In an ABC News exclusive interview, President Biden clearly stated that President Putin and himself ‘understand one another’ (Biden). He couldn’t be more right!

The two presidents ‘opening moves’ attest to their understanding of each other’s circumstances. 

President Biden recollected from a personal meeting with President Putin:

“[…] I said: “I looked in your eyes, and I don’t think you have a soul.” He looked back at me and said [President Putin]: “We understand each other.”” (Biden)

In reality, this whole talk about ‘having a soul’ is both trivial and irrelevant. If President Putin wished to discuss matters pertaining to his soul, the man has access to the Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill I of Moscow. He could converse with the latter and receive his counsel on those matters.

 A president’s spirituality has nothing to do with state affairs. As it shouldn’t be the concern of his foreign counterparts. Contrariwise, his reasoning, policies, and country’s interests ought to be at the center of their interactions. 

That is precisely what President Putin meant by saying, ‘we understand one another’. He is a pragmatic man, after all. More to the point, he entertains a thorough understanding of U.S. domestic politics.

President Putin is well aware of President Biden’s urgent need for political capital. The wager is, he doesn’t mind condoning the latter’s means to gain such capital—such as President Biden’s acquiescence to the inference that Vladimir Putin is a ‘killer’—which is a personal insult—so long his American counterpart demonstrates willingness to cooperate on issues of critical mutual interest.

The Russian President received that with reserved sarcasm, to put it moderately. He did wish President Biden ‘good health’, then relayed a moral tale from his childhood insinuating that people are what they accuse others to be; in a sense, “it takes one to know one” (The Guardian).

It was funny though to observe a great number of media outlets—prominent ones included—fretfully reacting to President Putin’s remarks, and denouncing them as  malicious and conniving. Fortunately, the two presidents know better!

President Putin was not anyhow threatening his American counterpart. A child who hasn’t yet been weaned would know that. One would wonder how could so many seasoned journalists miss that. President Biden, however, had successfully deciphered the signals coming from the Russian side.

The Russian response was threefold. 

First, to the insult at a personal level: President Putin was reticently sarcastic about it, “I wish you health,” (The Guardian).

Interpretation: I’m privy to your domestic challenges and your urgency for political capital gains.

Second, to the retaliatory promise i.e. that President Putin will pay a price for authorizing operations to meddle with and undermine U.S. presidential elections, according to an intelligence report (which the Russian side dismissed as baseless): the Kremlin demanded an ‘explanation or apology’, for that is considered an act of aggression against the Russian nation. (The Guardian)

Interpretation: Russia is a superpower, and must be treated as such. That is, the concept of Russian derzhavnost is sacrosanct and necessarily implies that Russia is the United States equal—not some inferior country to be looked down on.

Third, to President Biden’s assertion that the two countries have to work together in areas of mutual interest (The Guardian): President Putin demonstrated willingness to cooperate at that level.

Interpretation:  Russia is a pragmatic country and entertains sufficient savoir-faire in international affairs and Balance-of-Power politics to distinguish between domestic propaganda and international agendas. Let’s be done with petty politics and propaganda, and get down to business. 

Accordingly, President Biden rang his Russian counterpart for the second time, proposing “to discuss the full range of issues facing” the two countries, and to hold a summit for that end (Higgins). The Russian side raised no objections,

““Both presidents expressed their willingness to continue the dialogue on the critical areas of ensuring global security, which would meet the interests not only of Russia and the United States, but the entire international community,” the Russian readout said.” (Higgins)

In a nutshell, the truth of the matter is this:

President Putin understands the domestic political pressure wearing down his American counterpart; whilst the latter does exhibit considerable knowledge and recognition of the former’s vital interests, such as: Ukraine, Afghanistan, and Iran, arms control, and climate change. 

The two gentlemen appear to understand each other just FINE! 

One would hope their future cooperation and interaction elevate U.S.-Russian relations to a new level of harmony and mutual understanding.

God speed!

Reference

Biden, Joseph R. “Biden’s exclusive interview with George Stephanopoulos.” Interview by George Stephanopoulos. 17 Mar. 2021, abcnews.go.com/US/video/abc-news-live-update-bidens-exclusive-interview-george-76510757. Accessed 28 Apr. 2021.

Higgins, Amanda M. “Biden Proposes Summit in Phone Call with Putin As Russian Military Builds Presence on Ukraine Border.” CNBC, www.cnbc.com/2021/04/13/biden-proposes-summit-with-putin-as-russia-amasses-on-ukraine-border.html. 

Staff, Reuters. “Russia Recalls Its U.S. Ambassador for Consultations After Biden Comment on Putin.” U.S, 17 Mar. 2021, www.reuters.com/article/us-russia-usa-ambassador-idUSKBN2B92N1. 

www.theguardian.com/world/2021/mar/18/putin-wishes-biden-good-health-as-officials-demand-us-apology.