总统乔·拜登宣称“美国重回谈判桌”结束了他的第一次七国集团首脑会议，这是他作为总统的首次海外之行，并准备前往布鲁塞尔又一轮会谈在北约峰会上与最高级的盟友。
拜登在七国集团峰会结束时的新闻发布会上说:“美国回到了与分享我们最根深蒂固的价值观的国家一起领导世界的事业中。”
“我认为我们在重建美国在我们最亲密的朋友中的信誉方面取得了一些进展，”拜登继续说道，间接提到了他的前任，前总统唐纳德·特朗普他在总统任期内以“美国第一”的外交政策扰乱了传统的多边联盟。
在周日的峰会结束时，成员国发表了一份联合公报，其中他们表达了广泛的一致意见和对紧迫问题采取行动的共同承诺，包括承诺与世界分享10亿次疫苗接种，认可15%的全球最低企业税率，并申明对解决气候变化危机的共同承诺。
然而，峰会确实暴露了联盟内部在如何处理上的分歧中国。虽然拜登将应对来自中国的日益激烈的竞争作为其外交政策重点的基石，但一些欧洲盟友更愿意合作。
虽然公报确实提到了中国，但拜登周日被问及为什么措辞语气不够强硬。拜登淡化了对中国的意见分歧，并表示他对最终版本“满意”，对中国有“大量行动”，并期待从现在起“直接处理”。
随着拜登在布鲁塞尔北约峰会上继续他的行程，拜登将继续与他的前任形成对比，他的前任质疑安全联盟的效用。
“我们不认为北约是一种保护主义。拜登说:“我们相信，北约对于我们在下一个世纪——下一个世纪——维持美国安全的能力至关重要。“我想让他们知道，不像他们怀疑我们是否相信北约和第5条是一项神圣的义务。”
拜登接着向美国提出了北约的直接安全利益，提醒记者，北约的第5条只被激活过一次，这是为了在9.11袭击后保护美国。
布伦丹·斯米卢斯基/法新社通过盖蒂图像
乔·拜登总统参加了在康瓦举行的七国集团峰会最后一天的新闻发布会
在布鲁塞尔的访问还将包括欧盟和美国之间的峰会，之后总统将继续他的万众期待的静坐俄罗斯总统弗拉基米尔·普京在日内瓦。
尽管总统明确表示，他不会在冲突地区与普京对抗，但他也表示，他并不寻求冲突，而是希望面对面的会议能够帮助稳定两国之间的关系，普京和拜登都表示，两国关系处于“低点”。
两位领导人将于周三举行两次会议——一次是由两国扩大的代表团参加，另一次是更为私密的会议。之后，他们将分别举行记者招待会。
周日，当被问及为什么不与普京举行联合新闻发布会时，拜登表示，本次峰会“不是一场竞赛”，并希望峰会的重点是闭门会议的实质内容，而不是被在镜头前证明主导地位的努力所转移。
“这不是一场关于谁能在新闻发布会前做得更好或试图让对方尴尬的竞赛。这是为了让我自己非常清楚与俄罗斯建立更好关系的条件是什么，”他说。“我不想被转移视线，他们握手了吗?他们走了多远——谁说得最多，谁说得最少。他可以说他说的会议是关于什么的，我会说我认为会议是关于什么的。我就打算这么处理。”
尽管美国对俄罗斯实施了制裁，并采取了其他措施，旨在惩罚克里姆林宫对美国的侵略行为，但拜登周日被问及俄罗斯迄今尚未被显著威慑的现实。
拜登表达了一个清晰的观点，即永远无法保证改变另一个演员的行为，但他表示，随着俄罗斯面临自己的一系列挑战，希望“和解”。
当被问及为什么他还没有改变自己的行为时，拜登笑了笑，回答说“因为他是弗拉基米尔·普京。”
“我不会说得更多，因为我必须和他坐下来，之后我会很高兴和他谈谈，”他继续说道。
Biden says 'America is back at the table' as 1st foreign trip continues
PresidentJoe Bidendeclared that "America is back at the table" Sunday as heconcluded his firstGroup of Seven summit on his first overseas trip as president and prepared to head for Brussels foranother round of talkswith top allies at a NATO summit.
"America's back in the business of leading the world alongside nations who share our most deeply held values," Biden said during a press conference at the conclusion of the G-7 summit.
"I think we've made some progress in re-establishing American credibility among our closest friends," Biden continued, in an indirect reference to his predecessor, former PresidentDonald Trump, who rattled traditional multilateral alliances during his presidency with his "America First" approach to foreign policy.
At the summit's conclusion Sunday, the member nations issued a joint communique in which they expressed broad agreement and a shared commitment to action on pressing issues, including a commitment to share 1 billion vaccinations with the world, endorsing a global minimum corporate tax rate of 15% and affirming a shared commitment to tackling the climate-change crisis.
The summit did, however, expose a rift in the alliance on how to handleChina. While Biden has made countering rising competition from China the cornerstone of his foreign policy focus, some European allies are more open to cooperation.
While the communique did make reference to China, Biden was pressed Sunday on why the language was not more forceful in its tone. Biden downplayed the differences of opinion on China and said he was "satisfied" with the final version, that there's "plenty of action on China" and to expect "straightforward dealing" from now on.
As Biden continues his trip at the NATO summit in Brussels, Biden is set to continue to draw a contrast with his predecessor, who questioned the utility of the security alliance.
"We do not view NATO as a sort of protection racket. We believe that NATO is vital to our ability to maintain American security for the next -- next -- the remainder of the century," Biden said. "I want them to know, unlike whether they doubted whether we believe NATO and Section 5 is a sacred obligation."
Biden went on to make the case of NATO's direct security interest to the U.S. in reminding reporters that the alliance's Article 5 has only once been activated and that was in defense of the United States in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks.
Following his time in Brussels, which will also include a summit between the European Union and U.S., the president will continue on to hismuch-anticipated sit-downwith Russian President Vladimir Putin in Geneva.
While the president has made clear he won't hold back in confronting Putin on areas of conflict, he has also said he is not seeking conflict but is instead hoping the in-person meeting can help to stabilize the relationship between the two nations, which both Putin and Biden has said is at a "low point."
The two leaders are set to have two meetings Wednesday -- one with an expanded delegation from each country and a second, more intimate meeting. They will each hold separate press conferences after.
Asked Sunday why not hold a joint press conference with Putin, Biden said this summit is "not a contest" and wants the focus of the summit to be on the substance of the closed-door meetings not diverted by efforts to prove dominance in front of cameras.
"This is not a contest about who can do better in front of a press conference or try to embarrass each other. It's about making myself very clear what the conditions are to get a better relationship with Russia," he said. "I don't want to get into being diverted by, did they shake hands? How far did they -- who talked the most and the rest. He can say what he said the meeting was about and I will say what I think the meeting was about. That's how I'm going to handle it."
While the U.S. has imposed sanctions on Russia and taken other steps aimed at punishing the Kremlin for aggressive actions toward the U.S., Biden was pressed on Sunday about the reality that Russia hasn't been significantly deterred to date.
Biden expressed a clear-eyed view that there's never a guarantee to change another actor's behavior but expressed hope for "accommodation" as Russia faces its own set of challenges.
Asked why he hasn't changed his behavior yet, Biden briefly laughed and responded "because he's Vladimir Putin."
"I'm not going to get into much more than that because I've got to sit down with him and I'll be happy to talk after that," he continued.
