JUDY WOODRUFF: President Biden
has arrived in Geneva tonight,
making ready for his meeting
with Russia's President
Vladimir Putin tomorrow.
But, first, he moved today to end a tariff
war with the European Union.
White House correspondent Yamiche Alcindor
reports.
YAMICHE ALCINDOR: President
Biden's final day in Belgium,
a diplomatic sprint, photo-ops
at the palace with the Belgian king.
JOE BIDEN, President of the
United States: America is back,
and which is why we're here
in full force.
YAMICHE ALCINDOR: Then meetings at
the European Commission headquarters.
JOE BIDEN: It's overwhelmingly
in the interests of the United
States of America to have a
great relationship with NATO and with the
E.But.
YAMICHE ALCINDOR: One early product
of Mr. Biden's E.U. engagement?
A major trade resolution.
This morning, the U.S. and
E.U. announced they reached an
agreement to end a 17-year-long
trade dispute. It involves
aircraft subsidies for the American
company Boeing and the European
multinational Airbus.
Former President Trump escalated
the U.S.-E.U. trade war. He
slapped tariffs on European
metals and other goods. Today,
U.S. and E.U. officials vowed
to end the larger trade dispute.
In Brussels today, U.S. trade
Representative Katherine Tai
told reporters that the deal
will impact 700,000 jobs in the
U.S. It comes as China is on
track to become a major rival
in airplane manufacturing.
After his meetings in Brussels,
President Biden flew to
Geneva, Switzerland. Tomorrow,
he will meet with Russian
President Vladimir Putin.
JOE BIDEN: He's bright. He's
tough. And I have found that
he is a -- as they say, when
I used to play ball, a worthy adversary.
YAMICHE ALCINDOR: U.S. officials
say the president's meetings
with Putin and Russian officials
are expected to start around
1:00 p.m. local time. They
could last four to five hours or
even longer.
Following the meetings, Mr.
Biden is scheduled to hold a
press conference without Putin,
who will speak separately. The
two leaders have met before,
in 2011, when Mr. Biden was
vice president.
Yesterday, in Brussels,
President Biden said he plans
to take a tough line with Putin,
but he also will try to sort
out any common challenges
they can address together.
JOE BIDEN: We should decide where it's in
our mutual interests, in the interests of
the world, to cooperate, and
see if we can do that, and the
areas where we don't agree,
make it clear what the red lines are.
YAMICHE ALCINDOR: Administration
officials say Mr. Biden plans
to raise a number of issues.
Among them? Ransomware attacks
against U.S. infrastructure
by criminals in Russia, as
well as Ukraine, human
rights, and arms control.
Sources close to Mr. Biden tell
the "NewsHour" the main goal of
the meeting is for the president
to show U.S. strength and to
create a stark contrast to
former President Trump. In 2018,
after meeting with Putin in
Helsinki, Finland, Trump told
reporters that he believed Putin
over U.S. intelligence officials
that Russia did not meddle in
the 2016 presidential election.
Today, in Geneva, President
Biden was questioned whether he
was ready to meet Putin. He had
a simple answer -- quote
-- "I'm always ready."
JUDY WOODRUFF: And Yamiche joins me now.
Hello, Yamiche.
So, as you reported, President
Biden did meet with European Union
leaders today. They announced
a trade deal. Tell us about
the significance of that.
YAMICHE ALCINDOR: This trade deal between
President Biden and the European Union is
seen as a significant step
toward calming the train disputes
-- the trade disputes that
really go past the Trump era.
President Trump -- former
President Trump was really seen
as hostile to European leaders
and countries. He upped tariffs.
And this is really President
Biden wanting to signal
that the United States and
our European allies are on the
same page. This is a five-year
truce. And it's between Europe's
Airbus and the United States' Boeing.
I should also note that White
House officials have been
underscoring over and over again
that they're looking for foreign
policy for the middle class,
to benefit the middle class.
So, this gets to that, they
say, because this is going
to impact about 700,000 jobs.
JUDY WOODRUFF: And, meanwhile, Yamiche, we
know the president has flown on to Geneva
a day ahead of his meeting with the
Russian president, Vladimir Putin.
What do we know about the issues President
Biden plans to raise with Mr. Putin?
YAMICHE ALCINDOR: Well, this is
now, of course, the high-stakes
meeting that we have been
waiting for, for now several weeks.
President Biden and Russian
President Vladimir Putin are going
to be meeting at a villa just
behind me. And the stakes and
-- are really, really high
for. There are all eyes looking
at these two leaders. There's a lot on the
agenda, including talking about ransomware
attacks that have reportedly been carried
out by criminals living in Russia.
There's also the idea of Russia
meddling in elections and
disinformation. There's Ukraine
and the annexing of Crimea.
And there's really human rights
issues. So, President Biden says
he has a long list. He wants to
have a firm hand with Russia.
And he also wants to make
a stark contrast between his
predecessor, former President
Donald Trump, who was seen
as cozying up to Russia.
JUDY WOODRUFF: And what is it
that -- how is it that this
meeting is expected to shape
their relationship going forward?
What are American officials
telling you they want from
this meeting?
YAMICHE ALCINDOR: Well, that
is a key question, Judy. What
exactly is President Biden looking
for in this meeting with the
Russian president? And how, really,
will it benefit the American
people? That's the question
that I have been putting to
White House sources and aides.
And they say this is really about showing
that the U.S. is strong and that the U.S.
can confront Russia head on.
There's also this sense that
President Biden really wants
to turn the page and not be
like his predecessor. There is
a feeling here that this meeting
is going to be going on for
some four to five hours. So
there's going to be a lot to talk
about.
Now, President Biden, though,
has called the Russian president
a killer. He has said that
he does not trust him. So
there really is this feeling
that, while President Biden is
here meeting with him, that
he really wants to try to find
some common ground, but also
wants to make the case that the
United States should be talking
to, in some ways, our adversaries,
as well as the people that are close with
us, our allies.
And President Biden will be
holding that solo press conference.
And White House officials
tell me it's because he does
not want to be seen as competing
with the president of Russia.
He doesn't want to be seen as
looking at who spoke longest.
And he really wants to be making
the case why this is important
for the American people.
But there are a lot of questions
about, what are the deliverables
that are going to come
out of this meeting? And
we're going to, of course, be
hopefully asking some questions
in that press conference and getting some
answers, Judy.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Well, the two men do have a
bit of a history together. So, we will be
really interested to see how that meeting
goes.
Yamiche Alcindor with President
Biden in Geneva, Switzerland.
Thank you, Yamiche.
YAMICHE ALCINDOR: Thanks so much.