US and NATO agree to 'contain' Russia

"We discussed a range of issues: Russia, China, international terrorism, cyber security threats, climate change," he said after the talks.

Stoltenberg said he and President Biden agreed that policy toward Russia must be two-pronged: “outside protection and dialogue.” He also welcomed the US president’s decision to meet with NATO leaders before talks with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Geneva.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.

"Dialogue with Russia is not a sign of weakness. We are strong, we are united. We need to talk to Russia. Even if we do not believe in having better relations with Russia, we should still deal with complicated relationships," he concluded.

Earlier, Mr. Stoltenberg said that the meeting between Presidents Putin and Biden served NATO's interests.

Previously, Mr. Biden himself said in an article published in The Washington Post that Washington does not seek conflict with Moscow, but on the contrary, wants to maintain stable relations. However, he also expressed his readiness to respond to the challenges that are said to be present to European security.

The White House said on Tuesday that Washington sees the upcoming talks in Geneva not as an inducement to Russia, but as a way to protect US interests.

“President Joe Biden met with Vladimir Putin not despite the differences between our two countries, but because of those differences,” said US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan.

The meeting between Mr. Putin and Mr. Biden is scheduled to take place on June 16 in Geneva, before which the US President will attend summits with the EU and NATO.