After weeks of anticipation, the White House finally announced a date for a meeting between President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin Tuesday morning.
"President Biden will meet with President Putin in Geneva, Switzerland on June 16, 2021. The leaders will discuss the full range of pressing issues, as we seek to restore predictability and stability to the U.S.-Russia relationship," White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki released in a statement.
The announcement comes shortly after Biden green lit the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, which gives Russia significant energy power and control over most of Western Europe. The move was met with heavy criticism from Republicans and Democrats on Capitol Hill, in addition to current and former intelligence officials.
"I am opposed to the decision by the Biden Administration to waive sanctions on NS2 AG and Matthias Warnig. I urge the administration to rip off the Band-Aid, lift these waivers and move forward with the congressionally mandated sanctions. The administration has said that the pipeline is a bad idea and that it is a Russian malign influence project. I share that sentiment, but fail to see how today’s decision will advance U.S. efforts to counter Russian aggression in Europe," Democrat Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Menendez released in a statement last week. “If the administration maintains these waivers, I have several questions. First, what does the administration now expect from Germany after having made this significant concession to exercise the waiver? Will Berlin strengthen its support for Ukraine in the Normandy Format? Will it provide additional assistance to Kyiv in its struggle against Russian aggression? Also, what will the administration do to bolster our relationship with Ukraine?"
“This decision has created uncertainty in many corners of Europe and I expect to hear very soon from the administration on its plans moving forward," he continued.
Further, the meeting date comes just two days after Russian KGB agents diverted a flight between Greece and Lithuania, two NATO countries, in order to arrest a journalist who has been critical of Belarus dictator Alexander Lukashenko. Lukashenko is a staunch ally of Putin.
The authoritarian Belarusian regime just forced down a civilian Ryanair plane flying from Greece to Lithuania to arrest a political activist who criticized the dictator Lukashenko. This is an egregious violation that deserves condemnation and stronger sanctions against Belarus. https://t.co/QoydI7TPXM
— Rep. Peter Meijer (@RepMeijer) May 23, 2021
The arrest comes as Russian lawyer and dissident Alexei Navalny remains in prison.
"We're rewarding Putin with a summit? Putin imprisoned Alexei Navalny and his puppet Lukashenko hijacked a plane to get Roman Protasevich. Instead of treating Putin like a gangster who fears his own people, we're giving him his treasured Nord Stream 2 pipeline and legitimizing his actions with a summit. This is weak," Republican Senate Ben Sasse said about the meeting.