Why it’s no bad thing that Biden-Putin summit was a little dull

Published

3 years ago

June 16, 2021

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There are moments when dull is good. This was one of them.

It was clearly a big and important meeting – the first face-to-face encounter between Joe Biden as US president and Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin.

And with relations back nearing Cold War levels (they had both conceded as much) a tête-à-tête was needed.

Given the state of things and the context of the unpredictable diplomacy of Donald Trump, the possibility of a diplomatic incident was there.

Indeed when news filtered out that there had just been two sessions, not the three that were planned, and that the meetings had ended ahead of schedule, we wondered: Was this a sign that talks had broken down?

We were hastily called into the first of the two news conferences – the Russian one.

Mr Putin’s foreign minister Sergey Lavrov arrived in the room, a sign that his boss would soon follow. Did he look downbeat, angry? I couldn’t tell.

But then President Putin took to the podium.

Within moments he had announced the nations’ respective ambassadors would be reinstalled in their host capitals.

This represents the beginning at least of the resumption of the mechanics of diplomacy. An achievement.

Then came further positive language.

Mr Putin’s “overall assessment” was that there was “no hostility”.

“On the contrary, our meeting took place in a constructive spirit. Both sides expressed intention to understand each other,” Mr Putin said.

On cyber security, he said: “We agreed on consultations in this respect.”

They may just be words but they are valuable in a relationship so strained.

The Russian president revealed the two leaders talked about their families. “It shows his qualities and moral values,” the translator quoted Mr Putin as saying.

There were clearly more tense exchanges in their meetings. Mr Biden had, the Russian president revealed, brought up human rights and the case of opposition leader Alexei Navalny.

Here, Mr Putin deflected, with a spot of ‘whataboutism’, drawing comparisons with the jailed protesters from the January storming of the US Capitol in Washington DC and the enduring existence of the Guantanamo Bay detention centre.

President Biden watched all this on screens from another corner of the park on the shores of Lake Geneva before taking to his own podium.

And again, the language was positive.

It wasn’t, Mr Biden said, a “kumbaya moment”. No hugging or anything but “when was the last time two heads of state talked for two hours?”

There is, he said “no substitute for face-to-face dialogue. We share a responsibility between two strong and powerful countries. I told him I am not against Russia or anyone else. I’m for the American people”.

He said he had delivered three key points. First, practical measures to advance mutual interests, second, the importance of communication, and third, the ability to lay out US values.

The “tone was good”. The talks were “positive”. There “wasn’t any strident action taken… Where we disagreed we stated it”. Nothing was done in a “hyperbolic way”.

But neither leader was remotely effusive. After all, their world views are profoundly different and there was never any expectation that would change with this meeting.

It was about creating a more stable, predictable relationship where they can at least understand and control their disagreements as well as the fallout.

“This is not about trust. This is about self interest and verification of self interest,” Mr Biden said.

They had always played down this meeting as just the first stage of rebuilding dialogue.

And it was precisely that. There was no Trump-style drama, no diplomatic moments.

A little dull then, but that’s no bad thing for a relationship which can be so perilous.

US

Boy, 13, dies after being shot by police in New York state

Published

14 hours ago

June 30, 2024

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Boy, 13, dies after being shot by police in New York state

A 13-year-old boy carrying a “realistic appearing” replica firearm has died after being shot by police in New York state, US authorities have said.

The shooting happened after two youths were stopped by officers investigating robberies in Utica, about 240 miles northwest of Manhattan, on Friday evening.

They were approached because they “matched the robbery suspects’ descriptions”, police said.

One of them ran before pointing what appeared to be a handgun at the officers, Utica police chief Mark Williams told reporters.

Video on social media shows the boy being chased by an officer who wrestles him to the ground.

Two more officers catch up with them, after which a gunshot can be heard.

“Oh my god, he just shot him,” a bystander says.

The boy was hit in the chest after one of the officers fired a single shot at him, Mr Williams said.

The teenager – named in local reports as Nyah Mway, a refugee from Myanmar – was given first aid at the scene but later died in hospital.

Officers recovered a replica of a Glock 17 Gen 5 handgun with a detachable magazine, Mr Williams said.

The dummy had “Glock markings, signatures, a detachable magazine and serial numbers”, police spokesperson Lieutenant Michael Curley said.

It was “in all aspects a realistic-appearing firearm”, he added.

“However, ultimately, it fires only pellets or BBs,” Mr Curley said.

Utica Police Department said its “heartfelt thoughts and prayers” were with Nyah Mway’s family.

“We will continue to be as transparent and accessible to the family and community as legally allowed as this process continues,” the department said on Facebook.

It identified the officers involved as Patrick Husnay, Bryce Patterson and Andrew Citriniti, who have been placed on administrative leave with pay.

“Officer Husnay is the officer that fired his duty weapon, striking the juvenile,” the department said.

“As will be illustrated” in body-worn camera (BWC) footage, “when the officers asked and went to pat frisk Nyah Mway he immediately fled on foot”, it added.

“While fleeing he produced a replica Glock pellet gun from the front of his body, and during the 51 and 53-second mark on officer Patterson’s BWC, points the weapon directly at Officer Patterson and the other officers,” the department said.

During a meeting at Utica’s city hall on Saturday, its mayor Michael Galime said he understood the “weight of this situation”.

He added: “Everything will be released, and everyone in this room and the entire community will have access to all of that information.”

While some people shouted down officials’ remarks, others called for silence so that members of the boy’s community could hear an interpreter’s translations.

Mr Galime said the city would be transparent in its investigation and that he and other officials would meet privately with the teen’s family and other community members.

US

Defiant Biden attacks Trump but admits ‘I don’t debate as well as I used to’

Published

2 days ago

June 28, 2024

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Defiant Biden attacks Trump but admits 'I don't debate as well as I used to'

Joe Biden has attacked Donald Trump at a rally a day after the president’s “shocking” performance in a head-to-head debate.

“I don’t walk as easy as I used to, I don’t speak as smoothly as I used to, I don’t debate as well as I used to but I know what I do know,” said President Biden. “I know how to tell the truth.”

His performance in the debate against Trump on Thursday night was described as an “unmitigated disaster” by some in his own party after he paused and stumbled his way through, prompting calls for him to step down.

“I give you my word as a Biden, I wouldn’t be running again if I did not believe, with all my heart and soul, I can do this job,” he told the rally in North Carolina.

Mr Biden attacked the former president’s criminal record, calling Donald Trump a “one-man crimewave”.

“My guess is he set a new record for the most lies told in a single debate,” he added, telling the crowd he spent “90 minutes on the stage debating a guy with the morals of an alley cat”.

Hours later, Donald Trump was jubilant at a rally in Chesapeak, Virginia.

“Never mind that crooked Joe Biden spent a week at Camp David, resting, working, studying – he studied so hard he didn’t know what the hell he was doing,” said Mr Trump to the crowd.

“Biden’s problem is not his age, […] he’s got no problem other than his competence. He’s grossly incompetent,” he added.

Bad debate nights happen

Barack Obama tweeted his support for President Biden on Friday evening, saying: “Bad debate nights happen. Trust me, I know.”

But others remained unconvinced Joe Biden should run for president.

“I do not think President Joe Biden can be the Democratic Party’s standard-bearer in 2024,” former White House director of global engagement Brett Bruen told Sky News’ Yalda Hakim.

“Last night’s performance was astonishingly bad. You cannot just be strong on the teleprompter,” he said.

But Anthony Scaramucci, former White House communications director, blamed the president’s poor performance on his preparation.

“He wasn’t prepped right for that debate. He’s an older man,” Mr Scaramucci told Yalda Hakim.

“You don’t fill his head with facts and figures he’s never going to remember.”

There have been repeated calls for President Biden to step down.

It’s “time to talk about an open convention and a new Democratic nominee,” one Democratic politician told Sky’s US partner network NBC News.

However, while Vice President Kamala Harris acknowledged that President Joe Biden had a “slow start” in the debate, she insisted that he finished “strong”.

At a Waffle House restaurant in Atlanta after the debate, Biden told reporters he did not have concerns about his performance. “It’s hard to debate a liar,” he said.

US

Joe Biden: Could the Democrats replace him as US election nominee and how might that work?

Published

2 days ago

June 28, 2024

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Joe Biden: Could the Democrats replace him as US election nominee and how might that work?

Joe Biden’s stumbling performance in the US presidential debate has sparked alarm among Democrats – but could he be replaced against his will and how might that work?

A national US party has never tried to force an election candidate to step down in the modern era and their rules make it almost impossible to do so.

Latest: Reaction to Biden v Trump debate

The issue came before both parties in 2016, but neither took action and there’s currently no known effort to force Mr Biden to give way.

It would mean Democrat officials overturning the results of the state primaries – the votes that took place earlier this year that confirmed Mr Biden as the overwhelming pick for November’s election.

The 81-year-old won virtually all the delegates – and they are now set to go through the customary process of rubberstamping his nomination at the Democratic National Convention in August.

There are ways to replace a nominee if they die, resign or are incapacitated, but forcing Mr Biden out would mean delegates choosing another candidate.

It appears highly unlikely, as they were chosen in the primaries because of their loyalty to the president and with the trust that they would vote for him at the convention.

However, there is a potential “loophole” in that Democrat rules allow them to “in all good conscience reflect the sentiments of those who elected them”.

So if concerns about his performance and mental acuity reach critical level this could be a way forward.

Watch a special programme with reaction to the US presidential debate on The World with Yalda Hakim on Sky News from 6pm

What if Biden withdraws himself?

This is the only plausible scenario for the Democrats to choose a new candidate to take on Donald Trump.

Mr Biden has repeatedly dismissed this option during other turbulent times, but if he changed his mind he could simply serve out the remaining months of his presidency.

Such a U-turn would create a frenzy among Democrats as there’s no protocol in place for him or the party to choose a new candidate before August’s convention.

It takes a majority of the party’s 4,000 or so delegates to win the presidential nomination – and Mr Biden secured about 3,900 of them in the primaries.

The president would have some influence over his pledged delegates, but ultimately they can vote as they please – so it could become a ‘free for all’ with candidates campaigning aggressively to win them over.

If the president decides to pull out after the convention takes place, the chair of the party can call a special meeting of around 500 members.

They can – in theory – choose a new nominee via a simple majority vote.

However, such a process would likely be far more turbulent with behind-the-scenes jockeying and public campaigning.

If Mr Biden withdrew even closer to the 5 November election, it could raise constitutional, legal and practical concerns.

For example, voting papers have to be printed well in advance and it might not be possible to change them in time.

Would vice president Kamala Harris replace Biden?

If Mr Biden were to resign immediately as president, Kamala Harris would automatically succeed him – but would not also become Democratic nominee.

She might be politically favoured if he ditched his re-election bid, but Mr Biden’s delegates would not transfer to her as of right, and it would be a level playing field with the other hopefuls.

Who could be favourite if Biden steps back?

Two frontunners – if they chose to put themselves forward – could be California governor Gavin Newsom, 56, or Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer.

They didn’t enter this year’s primaries but have both been talked about as potential Democrat nominees in future.

For now at least, Mr Newsom appears to be sticking firmly behind the president.

He told reporters after Thursday’s debate his party “could not be more wholly unified behind Biden” and he shouldn’t step aside.

Mr Newsom has been California governor since 2019 and was also San Francisco’s mayor for seven years. Before that, he founded a winery in the state’s upmarket Napa Valley.

Ms Whitmer, a lawyer and former prosecutor, was the Senate’s first female Democratic leader and became governor in 2018.

The 52-year-old also served as co-chair of Joe Biden’s 2020 election campaign.