Andrei Raevsky Wrote A Really Good Piece...

On Putin-Biden's summit and he covers many, otherwise overlooked points of this whole 404 "crisis". This point is especially important, when trying to understand the "logic" (or lack thereof) behind US actions. 

US position: first, and above all else, the White House needs to avoid giving the appearance that Russia and the USA are negotiating on an equal footing.  This desire to maintain an appearance of superiority is made even harder by the stark reality which shows that far from being equal, Russia is the stronger party in this negotiation, and by a big margin at that (militarily of course, but also socially, politically and economically).  This is the key to the USA’s dilemma: how do you negotiate with a stronger opponent while maintaining the appearance of your own (non-existing) superiority?

So, just read the whole thing--it is full of many valuable insights.