US and NATO agree to 'contain' Russia

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

According to Stoltenberg, he and President Biden agreed that policy towards Russia must go hand in hand: "outside protection and dialogue." He also welcomed the US President's decision to meet with leaders of NATO member countries 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 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, in an article published in The Washington Post, said 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 Advisor 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 participate in summits with the EU and NATO.

PV