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June 15, 2021

The Sticking Points of the Biden-Putin Summit

Featuring Jim Townsend

Source: US News and World Report

Journalist Paul D. Shinkman

President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin need a great deal from one another.

The American commander in chief must call his counterpart to account for ongoing Russian aggression, including election interference, state-sponsored hacking into federal computers, disinformation campaigns and widespread meddling in the security affairs of European countries.

Despite his strongman persona, Putin remains vulnerable to economic contractions in Russia, compounded by widespread unrest amid Moscow's crackdown on pro-democracy dissenters – the Kremlin has been particularly prickly in recent days about Western concerns for dissident Alexei Navalny, who remains in a Russian jail on trumped up charges.

Read the full story and more from U.S. News and World Report.

Authors

  • Jim Townsend

    Adjunct Senior Fellow, Transatlantic Security Program

    James Joye Townsend Jr. is an adjunct senior fellow in the CNAS Transatlantic Security Program. After eight years as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense (DASD) for European ...