Biden and Putin hold high-stakes Geneva summit

When US President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin gathered for their highly-anticipated summit in Geneva today, it came at a moment that both leaders say is a low point for relations between their two countries. Perhaps unsurprisingly, a joint press conference following the summit is likely not in the cards.

The summit comes some six months after the start of Biden's tenure in office, offering him the chance to set the tone for relations with the Russian leader in person following a contentious start to their relationship.

Wednesday's private meetings grant the President, who has sometimes stumbled in his messaging while in front of the press, the opportunity to confront Putin directly and without cameras.

Later, Biden will be able to deliver his own message to reporters about the talks without the pressure of speaking alongside an adversary. Instead of potentially facing the press with dueling messages about US-Russia relations, Biden and Putin will hold solo press conferences following the summit.

The decision to not hold a joint press conference was something for which White House officials had pushed. Officials have said Russia pushed for a joint press conference during negotiations about the summit. But the US resisted because they did not want to give Putin a platform like he had after a 2018 summit with former President Trump in Helsinki.

Officials said they were mindful of Putin's desire to appear like he'd gotten the better of a US president, and wanted to avoid a situation that devolved into a tit-for-tat playing out in public.

The decision also comes at the advice of a group of Russia experts who met with the President earlier this month, according to sources familiar with the discussion.

"This is not a contest about who can do better in front of a press conference or try to embarrass each other," Biden said on Sunday, explaining the decision.

The US-Russia talks are expected to take place at a lakeside villa in Switzerland and last around five hours or longer, according to a US official. Despite their lengthy agenda, the leaders are not expected to break bread.

Read more here.

US President Joe Biden’s remarks at the start of his summit with Vladimir Putin included describing the US and Russia as “two great powers,” a notable elevation of Moscow’s status as he works to create a more stable relationship.

In the past, the US has tried to downplay Moscow’s global role. Former President Obama once described Russia as a “regional power” after it invaded Ukraine.

The context of Biden’s remark wasn’t clear, because background noise made hearing his remarks almost impossible. But he was discussing broadly the importance of meeting face-to-face to establish a better working relationship.

Biden’s remarks during the photo-op were mostly obscured by jostling by the press. Putin’s remarks were more audible.

At one point, Biden seemed to ask Secretary of State Antony Blinken what was happening. Eventually he seemed to just stop speaking, aware he wasn’t being heard.

“I think it’s always better to meet face to face,” he said.

American reporters who were able to enter the meeting said they asked three questions of Biden and Putin in the spray. One asked Putin if he feared opposition leader Alexey Navalny. Another asked what he would do if Ukraine joined NATO. And another asked Biden if he trusted Putin.  

Biden seemed to nod and look down at his papers as the questions were being shouted; US officials said afterward he was not nodding in response to any particular question.

A scrum of reporters had gathered outside the summit site to try accessing the photo-op. Aides screamed at the group to settle itself, but photojournalists and reporters scuffled as they scrambled to get inside the Villa la Grange.

Reporters described frenzied moments inside the meeting room, with shouting and pushing, before reporters were pushed out. One reporter described being shoved to the ground in the fray. 

Read more about today's summit here.

The highly-anticipated summit between US President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin has now started, but the media spray at the top of the meeting got off to an unusual start amid a chaotic scrum of reporters from both countries.

Reporters were seen blocking cameras while other people were talking as the two presidents were trying to give their opening remarks to each other. As a result, the situation got incredibly tense between the two traveling press corps from the US and Russia, according to CNN Chief White House Correspondent Kaitlan Collins.

Collins explained the "pool" is a media practice where one representative for every medium is permitted to go into the room for a spray at the top of a meeting. That, she said, is usually one person representing television, one person with a camera, a print reporter, one radio reporter and so forth — usually about 15 reporters in addition to photographers.

Collins reported she was told of some combative exchanges and that the full American press corps did not actually make it into the room for that top spray, which is thought to be the only access media would get from within Villa la Grange for the next few hours.

The White House indicated that the scene inside the room was so chaotic that President Biden's communication was misunderstood by the press.

When a member of the US press pool asked the US President whether he trusted Putin, they wrote that Biden "looked me in the eye and nodded affirmatively."

But White House Communications Director Kate Bedingfield pushed back on the claim, saying the Biden "was very clearly not responding to any one question," but simply nodding to acknowledge the press generally.

Watch Kaitlan Collins report on Biden and Putin's photo op:

Read more about today's summit here.

CNN's Maegan Vasquez and Lauren Said-Moorhouse contributed reporting to this post.

As the meeting got underway, US President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin were joined by their top diplomats, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, with the traveling press pool in attendance.

Putin thanked his US counterpart for "the initiative to meet" as the pair sat down ahead of their summit in Geneva on Wednesday.

"Still the US and Russia and US relations have a lot of issues accumulated that require the highest level meeting and I hope that our meeting will be productive," he added.

Biden smiled once as Putin spoke, but the leaders were largely stone-faced. The two exchanged rare eye contact, but Putin largely looked down and was slouched in his chair.

Putin said, via translator, expressed hopes that the meeting will be “productive.”

Biden suggested they would work on areas of “mutual interest.”

Largely, however, the meeting was inaudible amid the clicks of cameras and jostling among reporters. One still photographer blocked the shot of multiple cameras for some time.

Biden looked down at some paper at one point. 

“Go away please,” a handler said to reporters as the spray concluded.

CNN Chief International Correspondent Clarissa Ward said that with such a high-stakes summit such as this one, "everyone is pouring over the details of who looks like what and who's conceding and who's winning."

But she added, "It's really important for them now to be able to close the door on journalists and have a really serious and substantive conversation."

Swiss President Guy Parmelin welcomed US President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin together to Geneva ahead of their high-stakes summit, wishing the two leaders a "fruitful dialogue."

The leaders listened as his remarks were translated. Putin and Biden then shook hands before entering the Villa La Grange.

US President Joe Biden and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin just took their first photo at the historic meeting at Villa la Grange in Geneva as the summit gets underway.

The two presidents stood outside the villa with the Swiss President Guy Parmelin, who made short remarks welcoming the two leaders. Parmelin said he wished the leaders a "fruitful dialogue in the interest of your two countries and the world."

Biden and Putin listened as his remarks were translated, first in Russian and then English. 

The Swiss leader bid them farewell, and Biden and Putin came together. 

They shook hands, looked at each other, and smiled. Putin turned toward the press and smiled some more, before turning around as the two presidents entered 18th century villa for their first round of meetings.

Both leaders have recently acknowledged a low point in relations between the two nations. 

Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived on-time to his summit in Geneva with US President Joe Biden — a rare occurrence for a world leader who is notorious for arriving late to similar gatherings.

Putin is known for arriving late to important events — considered a power play by some observers. And that pattern of tardiness has extended to meetings with former American presidents.

For example, Putin set his last summit with a US president — alongside then-President Donald Trump — about 45 minutes behind schedule after his late arrival. And in 2009 and 2012, Putin showed up about 40 and 45 minutes late for his meetings with then-President Barack Obama.

He also kept German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych waiting about four hours each in 2014 and 2012, respectively. Even the Pope waited more than an hour for Putin to show up at the Vatican in 2015.

Similarly to Putin's arrival, US President Joe Biden has just been welcomed to the summit site by the Swiss President, Guy Parmelin.

The pair also paused at the entrance to pose for photographers before heading inside.

We are expecting to see all three leaders reemerge to stand together and greet each other formally, CNN Chief International Correspondent Clarissa Ward says.

US President Joe Biden is traveling by motorcade to Villa La Grange, the site of his first face-to-face summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

He is the fifth American president to have a meeting with the Russian leader. And it comes about the same time in his presidency as his predecessors opened dialogue with Putin.