#Biden Should Have A Live Streamed “Zoom” Conversation With Putin, Not An In-Person Confidential Meeting
Biden should immediately cancel their planned private in-person meeting scheduled for June 16 in Geneva, Switzerland, while publicly inviting Putin to participate instead in a live broadcast/streamed two-hour remote “Zoom” conversation between them with no moderator, with a chess stop clock for a total speaking time of one hour each. A second Zoom conversation would follow in a month. Those Zoom conversations would be very useful to clarify what underlies the difficult, often adversarial relationship between Russia and the United States, and quite possibly remove misunderstandings and greatly reduce tensions sustainably. The citizens of Russia and the United States (and of the rest of the world) deserve to hear first hand what’s on the mind of both leaders. A simultaneous written transcription and translation at the bottom of the television/computer screen would be required, instead of simultaneous translator voiceovers. Importantly, there would be no room for misrepresenting the conversation. Given mounting tensions, there is no time to waste.
The time is just not right for an in-person meeting between Biden and Putin, due to the recent Russian hackings of American companies which amount to sabotage. Those hackings must have been approved, explicitly or tacitly, by Putin, a career Soviet KGB agent with a deep, lifelong dislike for the United States for having opposed the Soviet Union’s totalitarianism and its imposition of communism on other nations. In private, Putin would most likely be offensive and openly disrespectful, attempting to humiliate Biden, taking advantage of Biden’s advanced age. Putin is no doubt particularly enraged with Biden who agreed with a journalist on TV a few months ago that Putin was probably a “killer” in the KGB Stalinist tradition, considering all the attempts on Navalny’s life, the assassination of Boris Nemcov and of other political opponents including journalists since Putin became president. An in-person meeting would achieve nothing. It would actually be counterproductive.
In the streamed/broadcast Zoom meetings, Biden and Putin could ask each other whatever questions they wished on personal, historical, and policy matters, no holds barred. They would agree that no question is off the table, no question is taboo, and no question is too sensitive. And they could make statements on matters not brought up by their counterpart’s questions.
Biden should ask Putin why he considers the United States and NATO military adversaries and threats, since the United States and NATO have never considered invading Russia, nor would they see an interest in invading Russia. Their military posture with regard to Russia is purely defensive, as it was with the Soviet Union given its military invasions of Hungary and Czechoslovakia to remove liberalizing governments seeking democracy and an end to communism. Furthermore, with Russia having abandoned communism in favor of capitalism and a market economy, there is no longer the primary ideological conflict which was the major cause of the Cold War, the secondary one being democracy versus dictatorship.
Biden could ask Putin why he liked communism and served in the KGB to defend it. Also, why Putin despised capitalism and wanted to eliminate it. And what made him change his mind on communism. He could also ask him whether he is grateful to the United States and the West for having staunchly opposed communism, which led to Russia finally discarding the failed communist economic system. Biden could ask Putin if he regrets communism having ruled the Soviet Union for seven decades, impoverishing its citizens. What he thinks of the Berlin Wall. Why he stated that the collapse of the Soviet Union was an enormous tragedy.
Biden could also ask Putin what he thinks of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights which all members of the United Nations have undersigned. He could ask Putin whether he thinks the Soviet Union and Russia have been faithful to all the obligations listed by the Universal Declaration, and then point out where they have not as a matter of government policy. Whether Putin thinks the Soviet Union, as a member of the United Nations, followed the principles of the United Nations Charter, and then point out where it did not. What Putin thinks of the Soviet Union sending tanks into Hungary in 1956 and Czechoslovakia in 1968 to remove their liberalizing governments and replace them with hardliners. Biden could ask why Putin violated Ukraine’s sovereignty by taking over Crimea and other parts of southeastern Ukraine militarily, in violation of the UN Charter, instead of going through the United Nations and asking for a UN supervised Crimean referendum on whether to remain part of Ukraine or to become part of Russia. Also, why Putin thinks the U.S. sanctions following his invasion of Crimea are unfair and unjustified.
Biden could also ask Putin why Russia has been anonymously pushing disinformation over the Internet to Americans, what is the point of it. What he thinks of QAnon. On the basis of what specific evidence does he egregiously misrepresent the violent storming of the Capitol by fascistic insurrectionists as a peaceful protest and condemns their judicial prosecution, claiming it amounts to persecution. That claim is as false as Trump’s, that the stormers he incited to forcefully invade the Capitol and disrupt the Electoral College vote, actually only hugged and kissed the police officers guarding the Capitol and did not violently assault them, contrary to all the live video documentation. That claim is as false as claiming that the Germans who illegally entered Poland in 1939 were not the attacking Nazi military, but simple German tourists bearing flowers. How the insurrectionists’ violent behavior compares with Navalny’s. Also, why Putin allowed Russia’s large state owned companies (including banks, oil, mineral, steel, and aluminum companies) to be owned by oligarchs, instead of privatizing them and distributing their shares equally to Russia’s citizens who could have greatly benefited from dividends and capital gains. Does Putin not think that was unfair to Russia’s citizens?
Biden should bring up Putin’s high profile public announcement of its new hypersonic missile while Trump was still president. It included a computer animation video showing the missile launched from Russia and landing in Florida, where Trump has his winter home. Was the message supposed to be that Trump was at Putin’s mercy? Was it intended to publicly insult and humiliate Trump? Why have the video show the missile landing in the United States? Or in any other country? Did Putin intend to communicate the impression of being a particularly aggressive warmonger, that he wants to use violence to achieve his goals? What are his goals?
It is hard to anticipate what questions Putin would have for Biden, or what matters he would like to expound on. But those will be just as revealing as his answers to Biden’s questions. Biden’s last question for Putin in the first Zoom conversation could be what does he not like about the U.S. and how would he like the U.S. to be. How Putin thinks the two nations could finally have a non-adversarial relationship. Surely, an equitable solution must be found.
Although two Zoom conversations would be better, even just one live broadcast/streamed two-hour Zoom conversation without any moderators would serve to make positions clear. It would greatly increase the understanding of Americans and Russians regarding the difficult relations between the two nations. It could very possibly lead to a significant easing of tensions. It’s certainly a much better idea than a private meeting, which would probably only lead to heightened tensions, possibly with disastrous results.
© Edward Sonnino 2021
June 8, 2021
