Biden says he is willing to talk to Putin – but won't do it alone

Posted on : December 1, 2022
Biden says he is willing to talk to Putin – but won't do it alone

Biden says he is willing to talk to Putin – but won’t do it alone: President wants backing from NATO allies before he opens communications – and insists there is no way Russia can win in Ukraine

  • Biden said he was open to meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin 
  • But he said it must be with NATO allies and Putin must want to end war in Ukraine
  • ‘I’m prepared, if he’s willing to talk, (to) find out what he’s willing to do,’ Biden said during his joint press conference at White House

President Joe Biden on Thursday said he was open to meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin but put several caveats on such a sit down.

Biden said the meeting would have to be with NATO allies and that Putin needs to be ready to talk about how to end his invasion of the Ukraine.

The president, speaking at a joint news conference at the White House with French President Emmanuel Macron, said he would choose his words carefully when he was asked about meeting with the Russian president.

‘I have no immediate plans to contact Mr. Putin. Mr. Putin is — I’m going to choose my words very carefully, he said, pausing before he continued.

‘I’m prepared, if he’s willing to talk, (to) find out what he’s willing to do,’ Biden said. 


President Joe Biden said he was open to meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin

Biden said he would only meet with Putin if the Russian president is serious about ending the war in the Ukraine – above a fighter in the Donetsk region of Ukraine

‘I’m prepared to speak with Mr. Putin if, in fact, there is an interest in him deciding he’s looking for a way to end the war. He hasn’t done that yet. If that’s the case, with my NATO friends, I’ll be happy to sit down with Putin to see what he wants, has in mind. He hasn’t done that yet,’ he noted.

Biden said the only way to end the war in the Ukraine was for Putin to withdraw his forces. 

‘The idea that Putin is ever going to defeat Ukraine is beyond comprehension,’ the president added. 

In their state visit on Thursday, Biden and Macron both reiteriated their strong support for Ukraine.

In a joint statement issued after their Oval Office talks, the two leaders said they were committed to holding Russia to account ‘for widely documented atrocities and war crimes, committed both by its regular armed forces and by its proxies’ in Ukraine. 

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