Eurotopics.net

On Tuesday, Joe Biden called Vladimir Putin and proposed a personal meeting - just a few weeks after criticising him in the strongest possible terms. Now the US government has imposed financial sanctions and expelled ten Russian diplomats after concluding that Moscow was responsible for a major hacking attack and interference in the 2020 US presidential election. European media try to make sense of the zigzagging.

Coinbase, the largest US-based cryptocurrency platform, officially became a publicly traded company listed on the Nasdaq exchange in New York on Wednesday. Its shares were indicated to start trading at 365 US dollars - well above the 250 dollar reference price - and remained considerably higher, closing at 328.28 dollars. Commentators view the hype with scepticism.

US President Joe Biden has postponed the final withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan. His predecessor Donald Trump had agreed with the Taliban on 1 May 2021 as the deadline for US troops to leave but Biden has now set September 11 - the 20th anniversary of the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington - as the new date. A symbolic gesture, but one that cannot conceal the failure of the West in Afghanistan, as commentators explain.

US President Joe Biden has called Vladimir Putin and suggested a face-to-face meeting - just weeks after strongly criticising his Russian counterpart. Everything points to a slight thaw between the two countries - which not all commentators approve of.