Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday said he'd be willing to hand wanted cybercriminals over to the United States if Washington did the same thing. President Biden, who will meet with Putin in Switzerland this week and is expected to urge his counterpart to go after cybercriminal organizations in Russia who conduct ransomware attacks, was later asked about the idea, and said he'd be open to an agreement if "in fact" the alleged U.S.-based hackers are "committing those crimes."
The question over whether individuals are committing crimes might be secondary, though. The real challenge facing a potential agremeent between the White House and the Kremlin is what constitutes a crime in the first place. As CNN's Bianna Golodryga and others pointed out, Putin and Biden have different views on "what qualifies as criminal," citing the former's crackdown on Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny and his supporters as a prime example.
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