Putin-Biden Handshake Kicks Off Historic Geneva Summit
NEUTRAL TERRITORY
With U.S.-Russian tensions at their most strained since the Cold War, Presidents Joe Biden and Vladimir Putin have started a potentially historic summit in Geneva.
Joe Biden and Vladimir Putin exchanged smiles and a firm handshake before a U.S.-Russia summit in Geneva. The two men were welcomed to the 19th century Villa La Grange by Swiss President Guy Parmelin, who said he hoped for “fruitful dialogue in the interest of your two countries and the world.” Putin reportedly told Biden: “I would like to thank you for the initiative to meet today. Still, U.S.-Russian relations have accumulated a lot of issues that require a meeting at the highest level, and I hope that our meeting will be productive.” BBC News said the talks would include arms control and U.S allegations of Russian cyberattacks. “No major breakthroughs are expected but there are hopes of finding small areas of agreement,” it noted. Geneva has previously hosted a number of major summits, including the 1985 meeting between Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev which helped usher in the end of the Cold War.
