The White House on Tuesday announced that President Joe Biden will meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin next month in Geneva, Switzerland.
The meeting between the two world leaders will be the first face-to-face meeting since Biden took office in January. The two have held multiple phone calls in recent months.
"President Biden will meet with President Putin in Geneva, Switzerland on June 16, 2021," the White House said in a statement. The leaders will discuss the full range of pressing issues, as we seek to restore predictability and stability to the U.S.-Russia relationship."
"We don't meet with people only when we agree," White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Tuesday. "We view it as a vital part of our vital interests."
Psaki added that there were no preconditions set in scheduling the meeting.
According to the Associated Press, the meeting will come following during Biden's first trip abroad as president. During that same trip, he will visit the U.K. for a meeting with the Group of Seven leaders and then head to Brussels for a NATO summit.
The Biden administration has called for a "stable and predictable" relationship with Russia. However, they've been quick to criticize the country's arrest and jailing of Alexei Navalny, the country's strongest pro-democracy voice.
The Biden White House has also criticized Putin for past election interference and claimed the country was behind the massive SolarWinds hack that exposed several government agencies. Psaki said Tuesday that she also expects Biden to address Russia's actions in Belarus and Ukraine during the summit.
