US President Joe Biden said on Sunday he will press Russian President Vladimir Putin to uphold human rights when they meet in Geneva next month for their first summit.

The face-to-face meeting with the Kremlin leader comes amid levels of tension not seen for years, Biden has previously met with Putin during his time as vice president. The White House said the two leaders would discuss a range of issues with the goal of restoring  “predictability and stability” in the relationship between Washington and Moscow.’

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In a speech marking the Memorial Day holiday, Biden said, “I’ll be meeting with President Putin in a couple of weeks in Geneva, making it clear that we will not — we will not stand by and let him abuse those rights,” referring to the summit, which is set for June 16.

Biden delivered his remarks at an annual Memorial Day Service, which honors fallen armed forces members. He and his wife Jill Biden also marked the sixth anniversary of the death of their son Beau Biden, who served in the US national guard and deployed to Iraq, died of brain cancer in 2015.

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Since taking office, Biden imposed new sanctions against Moscow over Solar Winds, US authorities say it was the Russian role in the massive SolarWinds cyberattack that targeted private businesses and government and repeated meddling in the 2020 presidential election.

In addition, Washington has harshly criticized Moscow for the detention of opposition activist Alexey Navalny, and the expulsion of each other’s diplomats.

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Despite the high tensions over Ukraine, Biden hopes to establish a clear channel of communication that would avoid undue surprises. 

Another focus is on Russian-dominated Belarus, which caused an uproar this week after authorities forced an airliner passing overhead to land, then arrested an opponent to President Alexander Lukashenko who had been aboard.