On Monday, Joe Biden’s first participation as a president in a one-day NATO summit signalled the next phase of the United States’ return to multilateral diplomacy. However, the most important piece of geopolitical theatrics is still to come. 
 
Recent developments in American foreign policy will be put to the test today as the US president heads to Switzerland for his first one-to-one meeting with Russian leader Vladimir Putin. Although their rendezvous will take place in Geneva – perhaps strategically chosen for its tradition of political neutrality – the conversation is likely to be anything but neutral.
 
The first sign came on Monday, when Biden issued a warning that the potential death of jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny would hurt Russia’s relationship with the rest of the world and especially with the United States. 
 
And then, there is Putin’s playbook. In a rare interview with a US news agency this week, the Russian president was asked a long list of questions on contested topics such as Russia’s involvement in cyber-attacks, the imprisonment of his political rival Navalny and meddling in the 2016 and 2020 US elections. The summary key message of the 90-minute interview? “Russia is not to blame”. Crucially, Putin refused to give a guarantee that Alexei Navalny would leave prison alive, an omission that spells trouble for the already tense US-Russia relationship.
 
The Geneva meeting is unlikely to lead to any immediate agreements, but will play an important role in shaping the relationship with Russia in the years to come. The Russian president may be a formidable foe, but Biden comes from a position of strength – one freshly cemented by the multilateral approach he has demonstrated in recent days and weeks. He will be measured in his approach and, in referring to his Russian counterpart as “a worthy adversary”, careful to grant Putin the respect he craves.
 
Donald Trump’s first encounter with Putin set the scene for a mysterious and shaky relationship that lasted until the end of Trump’s presidency. Biden’s meeting with the Russian president might be the first sign of a very different type of Russia-US cooperation.