National security adviser defends Biden's wait-and-see approach with Putin

National security adviser Jake Sullivan appeared on ABC's "This Week" Sunday.

President Joe Biden's national security adviser Jake Sullivan on Sunday defended the president's summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin, saying Biden heard some "important statements" about Putin's view. "I would say that President Biden did hear from President Putin, some important statements about how he looks at both the U.S.-Russia relationship and particular issues in it on strategic stability, on cyber and in other areas," Sullivan told ABC "This Week" anchor George Stephanopoulos. "But President Biden has been pretty clear from the outset that he wants to be able to have a space, to be able to engage directly, privately, candidly with President Putin, and then to determine whether the actions that Russia takes in the months ahead, match up with the discussions that took place in Geneva. That is where we will turn our focus at this point," Sullivan added. The national security adviser's comments come after President Joe Biden's first foreign trip, which saw the president spend eight days abroad attending summits with the Group of Seven, NATO and the EU, culminating in a high-stakes face-to-face meeting with Russia's President Vladimir Putin.