Geneva summit 'win for Putin,’ Trump-era official says
The summit by Russian President Vladimir Putin and his American counterpart, Joe Biden, was “a symbolic win for Putin,” says a Trump-era official with the National Security Council for Russian and European affairs.
Fiona Hlll made the comments on NBC on Sunday after the two world leaders met in Geneva on Wednesday.
“In terms of the symbolism of having a sit-down with the American president, absolutely. That is a very important win for Putin… But it's not a win if nothing happens out of it.”
Among other notable Republicans commenting on the issue was former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who told ABC that the summit used “no damage.”
“I think the bar was low because he didn't get in conflicts with anybody. There wasn't any kind of difficult moments except for the one with Kaitlan Collins,” Christie said, citing an exchange between Biden and a CNN reporter.
He further undermined any possible outcomes from the summit amid tensions between Washington and Moscow, which have been particularly high since the Biden administration took power.
“In the end, I think, not much was accomplished, but no damage was done. And I think that's probably all they were looking for ... was to come out unscathed. No big mistakes. Come home, and he can say America's back. That's what his point was, and I don't think he did anything that made us believe that we weren’t,” Christine said.
At his presser after the meeting, Putin called the talks “quite constructive,” adding that they agreed to return their ambassadors to their posts.
Held at Villa La Grange, a handsome 18th-century villa that overlooks Lake Geneva, the summit had been tapped as unlikely to offer a speedy recovery in the dented relations between the two superpowers.
Putin has met five US presidents since 1999 but his last meeting with an American president, Donald Trump, had revived hopes of a calmer interaction between the US and Russia.
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