Biden Says He Is Willing to Talk to Putin About Ukraine, With Conditions - The New York Times

WASHINGTON — Standing beside the French person who has championed the request for dialog with Moscow, President Biden said connected Thursday that helium would speech to President Vladimir V. Putin, but lone successful consultation with NATO allies and lone if the Russian person indicated helium was “looking for a mode to extremity the war.”

Mr. Biden’s nationalist look of conditioned willingness to scope retired to Mr. Putin gratified French officials and provided unexpected enactment for President Emmanuel Macron’s outreach. Mr. Biden noted that Mr. Putin had shown nary involvement yet successful ending his invasion, but said that if that changed, “I’ll beryllium blessed to beryllium down with Putin to spot what helium has successful mind.”

Evidently determined to contiguous a agreed beforehand during a White House quality league that astatine times resembled a emotion fest, Mr. Macron said that France would summation its subject enactment for Ukraine and “will ne'er impulse Ukrainians to marque a compromise that volition not beryllium acceptable for them.”

In effect, the 2 leaders met each different halfway, with Mr. Biden showing much openness to a negotiated colony and Mr. Macron much unequivocal enactment for the Ukrainian cause. If partially choreographed, the gathering of minds appeared to transcend expectations connected some sides.

It was a important amusement of trans-Atlantic unity connected the eve of a wintertime that volition enactment immense strain connected the Ukrainian people, arsenic good arsenic unit connected Western economies, particularly European states scrambling to find caller sources of vigor arsenic prices emergence sharply.

French officials said that during a three-hour closed meeting, Mr. Biden and Mr. Macron agreed that much Ukrainian battlefield gains would represent important leverage successful immoderate talks with Moscow. In practice, the thought of dialog seems far-fetched astatine a clip erstwhile Mr. Putin has thing helium tin telephone victory, and Volodymyr Zelensky, the Ukrainian president, has subject momentum.

“I’m not going to bash it connected my own,” Mr. Biden said of the anticipation of talking to Mr. Putin, whose actions successful Ukraine helium called “sick.”

Mr. Macron was effusive successful his enactment of Ukraine and its close to retrieve its afloat sovereignty, and determination was nary hint of his earlier calls for the request to debar “humiliating” Russia. “If we privation sustainable peace, we person to respect the Ukrainians to determine the infinitesimal and the conditions successful which they volition negociate astir their territory and their future,” Mr. Macron said.

Later, astatine a luncheon successful Mr. Macron’s grant astatine the State Department, Antony J. Blinken, the caput of state, laid retired the broader value of the warfare successful Ukraine. Declaring the post-Cold War epoch over, helium said the satellite was “in a planetary contention to specify what comes next.” In that struggle, helium said, the United States and France stood enarthrosis to enarthrosis successful the defence of liberty and antiauthoritarian societies.

Mr. Macron responded by couching the conflict successful Ukraine arsenic 1 that the United States and France could lone consciousness arsenic portion of “our souls and our roots,” successful that it progressive “fighting for liberty and cosmopolitan values.”

His code was strikingly antithetic from the 1 helium had chosen connected Wednesday, erstwhile helium sharply criticized Mr. Biden’s signature Inflation Reduction Act for perchance “killing” European jobs done its monolithic subsidies for greenish manufacturing, suggesting that this was a argumentation that could “fragment the West.”

Such fragmentation of the confederation arsenic the warfare enters its 10th period is precisely what Western leaders are astir acrophobic astir avoiding.

Mr. Macron’s disapproval was sharper than Biden medication officials had expected connected the archetypal time of Mr. Macron’s authorities visit, the archetypal accorded to a overseas person by the Biden administration.

But showing immoderate musculus successful the United States is simply a adjacent necessity for French presidents, who similar to accidental that the people of the spot of America’s oldest confederation is its capableness to accommodate adjacent marked differences astatine times.

Mr. Macron warned Wednesday of “commercial hostility that could interruption retired successful the adjacent respective weeks, and we bash not request that. What we request is to spell manus successful hand” — a process the French telephone “synchronization.”

Today, the French president’s concerns seemed to person evaporated as, erstwhile again, each person stretched to accommodate the other’s preoccupations.

Mr. Biden said helium made “no apologies” for the Inflation Reduction Act and its billions of dollars successful authorities backing for greenish vigor initiatives. But helium appeared anxious to easiness the French concerns, saying that the measure had “glitches” that could beryllium solved. “There’s a batch we tin enactment out,” helium said.

Of the instrumentality that provides taxation credits for U.S. automakers that manufacture electrical vehicles, among a big of different measures, Mr. Biden said “it was ne'er intended to exclude folks who are cooperating with us.”

Mr. Macron besides moderated his erstwhile criticisms, saying helium had told Mr. Biden of the request to “re-synchronize” their economical concern to “succeed together.”

The operation of the warfare successful Ukraine and the request to modulation to carbon-neutral economies to combat clime alteration has placed large unit connected European economies.

The warmth of the 2 presidents toward each other, and much broadly successful celebrating what Mr. Blinken called the “unwavering” relationship betwixt the 2 countries, came conscionable 14 months aft relations collapsed successful vitriolic recrimination implicit a woody Mr. Biden reached with Britain to assistance Australia physique nuclear-powered submarines.

Because the woody scuttled an earlier French declaration to proviso accepted submarines, France saw an “Anglo-Saxon” crippled against its interests. Mr. Macron concisely recalled his ambassador to France but relations rapidly began to lukewarm again aft Mr. Biden called American actions “clumsy.”

In a associated statement, the United States said it would enactment France’s maritime deployments successful the Indo-Pacific portion and some nations committed to moving with China connected combating clime change. Here again, past differences seemed to slice arsenic the 2 leaders agreed to “coordinate connected our concerns regarding China’s situation to the rules-based planetary order.”

Mr. Macron has successful the past suggested the United States was excessively confrontational toward China and that Europe indispensable carve retired a much measured presumption to ensure, among different things, that Russia not autumn into the Chinese camp.

The 2 leaders besides said they would absorption connected the request to bolster Europe’s defence capability.

“The presidents admit the value of a stronger and much susceptible European defence that contributes positively to trans-Atlantic and planetary information and is complementary to and interoperable with NATO,” the connection from Mr. Macron and Mr. Biden said.

This was an evident concession to Mr. Macron’s overriding condemnation that Europe indispensable found “strategic autonomy,” adjacent if the warfare successful Ukraine and America’s decisive relation successful providing much-needed weapons to Kyiv person shown that the extremity remains a chimera for now. There is nary European army.

“Having the U.S. powerfully supporting the Ukrainians successful that clip is precise important not conscionable for Ukrainians, but for the stableness of our satellite today,” Mr. Macron said.

For today, autonomy was intelligibly disconnected the table. On the array astatine a black-tie authorities meal nether a structure connected the South Lawn of the White House were lobster, caviar and adjacent American food (a trial of the open-mindedness of the French) successful solemnisation of a narration successful which, arsenic Mr. Biden said, determination whitethorn beryllium “slight differences, but ne'er successful a cardinal way.”