President Joe Biden and Russian Vladimir Putin, with stern expressions and polite words in front of the cameras, plunged into hours of personal talks on Wednesday at a lush Swiss mansion on the lake, a highly anticipated summit at a time when both leaders agree that relations between their countries are at an all-time low.
Biden called it a discussion between the “two great powers” and said it was “always better to meet face to face.” Putin, for his part, expressed the hope that the talks would be “productive”. The meeting in a room lined with books began somewhat awkwardly – both men seemed to avoid looking at each other during a brief and chaotic photo opportunity in front of a crowd of reporters.
Biden nodded when a reporter asked if Putin could be trusted, but the White House quickly sent out a tweet insisting that the president “is clearly not answering a single question, but nods in gratitude to the press in general”.
The two leaders did shake hands – Biden reached out first and smiled at the staunch Russian leader – minutes earlier, they had posed with Swiss President Guy Parmelin, who had welcomed them to Switzerland for the summit. Biden and Putin are expected to hold four to five hours of extensive talks.
For several months, they exchanged harsh rhetoric. Biden has repeatedly called on Putin for malicious cyberattacks by Russian hackers on US interests, disregard for democracy, imprisoning a leading Russian opposition leader, and meddling in American elections.
Putin, for his part, reacted to this by pointing to the January 6 uprising at the US Capitol to prove that the US was not lecturing on democratic norms, and insisting that the Russian government had nothing to do with it and any interference in elections or cyberattacks, despite US intelligence testifying to the contrary.