Switzerland-US to hold bilateral talks in Geneva

Joe Biden is making his first overseas trip as president when he travels to Europe later this month. He will be joined by First Lady Jill Biden for the stops in the United Kingdom. Copyright 2020 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.

US President Joe Biden will meet with Swiss President Guy Parmelin and Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis ahead of his highly anticipated summit with Russia's Vladimir Putin in Geneva.

Parmelin tweeted on Thursday that he and his colleague from the Federal Council (executive body) would meet Biden in Geneva on the sidelines of the US president’s meeting with the Russian President on June 16.

Parmelin said he looked forward to building on “very close” and “numerous” bilateral ties between Switzerland and the US.

Bilateral relations between Switzerland and the USA are close and multifaceted, as President @ParmelinGExternal link emphasised. He and Federal Councillor @ignaziocassisExternal link are looking forward to building on this at a meeting with President @JoeBidenExternal link on the occasion of the US-Russian summit. https://t.co/8DEsX2Jf6VExternal link

— André Simonazzi (@BR_Sprecher) June 3, 2021External link

The White House also announced the bilateral Swiss-US meeting in a press releaseExternal link on June 3. The agenda of their talks has not been revealed.

During Biden’s trip to Europe – his first overseas trip as president – he will also meet with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on June 14 on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Brussels.

But the US president will first meet with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on June 10 ahead of attending the G-7 summit in Cornwall, United Kingdom.

Biden and first lady Jill Biden will then have an audience with Queen Elizabeth at Windsor Castle before heading to Belgium for the NATO and European summits. While there, he will meet with host leaders King Philippe and Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo.