Biden and Putin hold high-stakes Geneva summit

After meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, US President Joe Biden said the two leaders "share a unique responsibility to manage the relationship between two powerful and proud countries, a relationship that has to be stable and predictable."

The US President said his agenda includes fighting Covid-19, rebuilding the US economy, re-establishing relationships around the world with allies and protecting Americans.

US President Joe Biden said that he and Russian President Vladimir Putin spent a "great deal of time" discussing cybersecurity during their bilateral meeting in Geneva.

"I gave them a list... 16 specific entities, 16 defined as critical infrastructure under US policy, from the energy sector to our water systems. Of course the principle is one thing, it has to be backed up by practice. Responsible countries need to take action against criminals that conduct ransomware activities on their territory. So, we agreed to task experts in both our countries to work on specific understandings about what is off limits and to follow-up on specific cases that originate in other countries, and that's either of our countries," Biden said.

US President Joe Biden said he told Russian President Vladimir Putin "human rights is always going to be on the table." 

"It's not about just going after Russia when they violate human rights, it's about who we are," Biden said. 

Biden said he "made it clear" to Putin that he will continue to speak out against cases where there are human rights violations concerns.

US President Joe Biden is holding a news conference now after wrapping talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier today in Geneva.

"There's no substitute, as those of you have covered me for a while know, for face-to-face dialogue between leaders, none," Biden said about their meeting. "President Putin and I share a unique responsibility to manage the relationship between two powerful and proud countries. A relationship that has to be stable and predictable. And we should be able to cooperate where it's in our mutual interests, and where we have differences, I wanted President Putin to understand why I say what I say, and why I do what I do, and how we will respond to specific kinds of actions that harms America's interests."

Putin held his own solo news conference before Biden, where he said US and Russian ambassadors will return to their diplomatic posts and that both countries will begin consultations on cybersecurity. He described the summit as "constructive" and "productive" on the whole.

The official meetings between both leaders today were broken into two rounds, one a smaller session and the second with larger delegations. The total run time came in shorter than the four to five hours officials initially predicted for the summit.

US President Joe Biden gifted Russian President Vladimir Putin with a pair of custom aviator sunglasses, according to a White House official.

Biden also gave Putin a crystal sculpture of an American Bison by Steuben Glass of New York.

"A stately interpretation of one of our nation’s most majestic mammals and representative of strength, unity, resilience. In 2016, it was officially named the national mammal of the United States when the Obama-Biden Administration signed the National Bison Legacy Act into law. In Russia, over the past 20 years, European bison were reintroduced by rewilding numerous sites after their extinction in 1927. The sculpture will be presented on a cherry wood base, symbolic of our nation’s first president, George Washington, with a custom engraved inscription plaque commemorating the meeting between President Biden and President Putin," the official said.

White House officials say they are not surprised by Vladimir Putin's equivocal, denial-filled performance at his press conference, noting his language is unchanged from when he is pressed on issues of cybercrime, human rights and Ukraine.

US President Joe Biden did not enter the talks believing he would magically be able to change Putin’s rhetoric, much less his behavior, an official says. They watched his press conference closely and took note of places where Biden might need to respond.

 But they had some plans already in place given the expectation Putin would use his appearance to turn around and put questions on human rights back on the United States.

Russian President Vladimir Putin displayed his “classic” whataboutism play at the news conference after his meeting with US President Joe Biden concluded, former Top Russia Adviser to President Trump Fiona Hill said.

Hill said it was clear that Putin wanted to keep the tone “generally cordial.”

“There was no chest thumping about the meeting,” she added.

The big takeaway from Hill: Putin will not let up on the dirty tricks or on the whataboutism. This is at least a start to try to get some kind of anchor in the relationship to set the tone on the stage for other meetings.

After their talks were over, Russian President Vladimir Putin said his meeting with US President Joe Biden was "productive" on the whole.

"It was substantive, concrete and took place in an atmosphere that was aimed at achieving results,” he told reporters Wednesday in Geneva, Switzerland.

US President Joe Biden did not invite Vladimir Putin to the White House, the Russian president said Wednesday, saying the conditions have to be right for such a meeting.

Putin described the summit with Biden as “constructive.”

Putin again said he did not remember an encounter when Biden was vice-president a decade ago in which Biden reportedly said he looked into Putin’s eyes and saw no soul.