Irish Examiner view: Summit could be a political landmark  

Tomorrow in San Francisco, US president Joe Biden and Xi Jinping will meet for their first in-person meeting in a year

While the discussions between Joe Biden Xi Jinping are unlikely to ultimately have a huge historic resonance, it is vital that the recent diplomatic coolness between the two thaws even further. Picture: Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP

History is littered with supposedly groundbreaking summit meetings between powerful men which end up in one way or another having a massive effect on the lives of millions.

These meetings include the Council of Nicaea in 325AD, recognised as the binding theological foundation for organised Christianity; or the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk in 1918 which allowed Bolshevik Russia to withdraw from the First World War in return for the independence of 11 countries — including Ukraine — and which is still being used as an excuse by Vladimir Putin for the illegal war he is waging against that country.