President Joe Biden's European Visit: Begins With US Soldiers, Closes Discussions With Vladimir Putin

JAKARTA - The President of the United States (US) Joe Biden embarked on his first trip abroad since taking office, with a variety of agendas waiting for him.

On the Blue Continent, President Biden will attend a meeting with leaders of developed countries (G-7), the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) summit, and a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Geneva, Switzerland next week.

"We're not looking for conflict with Russia. We want a stable and predictable relationship. But I'm clear, the United States will respond in a strong and meaningful way if the Russian government engages in dangerous activities," President Biden told 1,000 US troops and their families at RAF Mildenhall Air Base, England, as reported by Reuters on Thursday 10 June.

"This is my first foreign trip as president of the United States. I went to the G7, then the NATO minister and then met with President Putin to tell him what I wanted him to know," Biden said to cheers from his soldiers.

"At every point along the way, we will make it clear that the United States is back and the world's democracies are standing together to address the toughest challenges, and issues that matter most to our future," said President Joe Biden.

Before flying to Europe, President Biden told reporters his goal of flying to Europe was to strengthen the alliance, explaining to Putin and China that Europe and the United States were tight.

This includes reaffirming the US commitment to the NATO alliance, while underscoring the modernization and expansion of NATO's cyber capabilities. President Biden also came to Europe with good intentions, announcing plans to donate 500 million doses of Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine.

Officially, President Biden's agenda will begin with the G-7 summit which is expected to be dominated by vaccine diplomacy, trade, climate and initiatives to rebuild infrastructure in developing countries. US officials see the effort as a way to counter China's growing influence.

Including the global minimum tax. G7 finance ministers agreed before the summit to pursue a minimum global tax rate of at least 15 percent and allow market countries to tax up to 20 percent of excess profits, on top of a 10 percent margin.

Later, President Biden will hold a meeting with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Thursday in Cornwall, a chance to renew the US-UK 'special relationship' after the kingdom's exit from the European Union. The two countries will issue an updated joint statement of principles honoring the original Atlantic Charter from 1941.

In addition, the two will discuss the 1998 Good Friday peace accord, climate change, proposals to counter China's global influence on infrastructure and the withdrawal of Western troops from Afghanistan.

Meanwhile, with the German delegation, President Biden plans to discuss a number of things, one of which is the discussion of the Nord Stream 2 Pipeline in Russia, in which the US and Germany have different attitudes regarding the US$11 billion project.

After three days of the G7 summit, Biden and his wife, Jill, will visit Queen Elizabeth II at Windsor Castle, before flying to Belgium.

In Brussels, President Biden will hold talks with NATO and European Union leaders. The issues to be discussed are estimated to be around Russia, China and strengthening NATO cooperation.

And, President Biden's visit to Europe will conclude with a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. No major breakthrough was expected from this meeting. However, President Biden did not rule out all possibilities.

"Who knows? That will be the subject of our discussion," he replied when asked by reporters whether his meeting with Putin would result in an agreement on cybersecurity.