Biden and Putin hold high-stakes Geneva summit

The United States and Russia are going to begin consultations on cybersecurity, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Wednesday following his summit with US President Joe Biden.

“Both sides have to assume certain obligations there,” Putin said.

“We believe that the cyberspace is extraordinarily important. In general, and in particular for the US, and to the same extent for Russia,” Putin said in response to a question from CNN’s Matthew Chance. 

Although Putin conceded that the United States was the victim of the greatest number of cyberattacks, he said that Russia was also a victim. 

“We encounter this every year. For example, one of the health systems in a very important part of Russia was attacked. So, it means that this work is being coordinated,” Putin said. “In the US, I don't think that the US administration is particularly interested in organizing that or looking into it. All they do is to make insinuations. What we need is expert consultations between us. We agreed to that, in principle, Russia is prepared for that.”

The US and Russian ambassadors will return to their diplomatic posts and take up their functions, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Wednesday in Geneva, Switzerland. 

The question of when that would happen is a “purely technical one,” he said.

As US President Joe Biden and his team huddle in advance of his news conference, they are closely monitoring Russian President Vladimir Putin’s ongoing news conference to see how he frames the meeting and whether there is anything specific that Biden needs to proactively push back against when it’s his turn, a US official says

The opportunity to do this was one of the reasons the US side wanted to go second with their news conference.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Wednesday he had discussed Ukraine with US President Joe Biden.

As far as Ukraine joining NATO, “I don’t think there is anything to discuss there," he said.

Putin was speaking in Geneva following his historic first face-to-face meeting with Biden as president.

Russian President Vladimir Putin is holding a news conference after wrapping up a summit with US President Joe Biden.

The summit between US President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin is now over, a White House official says.

Their official meetings 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.

The final session, and the summit itself, ended just past 5 p.m. local time.

Biden and Putin are set to hold separate, solo news conferences next.

The expanded session between US President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin and their delegations has ended, according to a White House official.

It was only one larger bilateral meeting, not two big ones, per an aide.

A White House official says the meetings that were officially scheduled for the summit have now ended, but they are not ruling out what each leader decides to do now.

President Biden's limo is now idling outside the doors of the Villa la Grange. 

This brings the current timing of the summit to 93 minutes for the first session, a 45 minute break, and 65 minutes for the second session.

Biden and Putin are set to hold separate, solo news conferences today.

There is a different atmosphere in the expanded round of talks underway now in Geneva than in the earlier, smaller session between Presidents Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Biden is seated across the table from Putin in their expanded meeting, which is occurring in a different room from the book-lined study where the earlier round took place. 

He is flanked by national security adviser Jake Sullivan and Secretary of State Tony Blinken.

Unlike the first session, where translators in the room interpreted the leaders’ comments from nearby, the leaders are now wearing earpieces for simultaneous translation. Microphones are in front of each official.

This allows for a quicker pace of talks, officials say. 

Biden has come to the meeting with a binder of materials and cards printed out with bullet points.

Both sides have holding rooms on the grounds of the Villa la Grange for their delegations where they were able to retreat during the 45-minute break between rounds. Officials say that the rooms have refreshments, but that there is still no plan for a meal between Biden and Putin.

According to Russian state media, RIA Novosti is reporting the following Russian officials are taking part in the extended meeting:

The Russian delegation includes:

RIA Novosti added the Deputy Chief of the Russian Presidential Office Dmitry Kozak and Russian Special Presidential Envoy for Syria Alexander Lavrentyev were also invited to the summit to discuss regional issues, namely Ukraine and Syria.