Biden, Putin wrap up summit, agree to nuke pact talks
U.S. President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin shook hands at the opening of their daylong summit in Geneva, amid tensions over human rights, Ukraine and ransomware.
GENEVA — President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin concluded their summit on Wednesday with an agreement to return their nations’ ambassadors to their posts in Washington and Moscow and a plan to begin work toward replacing the last remaining treaty between the two countries limiting nuclear weapons.
But the two leaders offered starkly different views on difficult simmering issues including cyber and ransomware attacks originating from Russia.
Putin insisted anew that his country has nothing to do with such attacks, despite U..S. intelligence that indicates otherwise. Biden, meanwhile, said that he made clear to Putin that if Russia crossed certain red lines — including going after major American infrastructure — his administration would respond and “the consequences of that would be devastating,”
Will Putin change his behavior? Biden was asked at a post-summit news conference.
“I said what will change their behavior is if the rest of the world reacts” in a way that “diminishes their standing in the world,” Biden said. “I’m not confident of anything. I’m just stating a fact.”
Both leaders, who have stirred escalating tension since Biden took office in January, suggested that while an enormous chasm between the two nations remains the talks were constructive.
Putin said there was “no hostility” during three hours of talks, a session that wrapped up more quickly than expected.

President Joe Biden, right, and Russian President Vladimir Putin meet at their summit Wednesday in Geneva, Switzerland.
When it was over, Putin had first crack at describing the results at a solo news conference, with Biden following soon after. Biden said they spent a “great deal of time” discussing cybersecurity and he believed Putin understood the U.S. position.
“I pointed out to him, we have significant cyber capability,” Biden said. “In fact, (if) they violate basic norms, we will respond. … I think that the last thing he wants now is a Cold War.”
Putin noted that Biden raised human rights issues with him, including the fate of opposition leader Alexei Navalny. Putin defended Navalny’s prison sentence and deflected repeated questions about mistreatment of Russian opposition leaders by highlighting U.S. domestic turmoil, including the Black Lives Matter protests and the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection.
Putin held forth for nearly an hour before international reporters. While showing defiance at queries about Biden pressing him on human rights, he also expressed respect for Biden as an experienced political leader.
The Russian noted that Biden repeated wise advice his mother had given him and also spoke about his family — messaging that Putin said might not have been entirely relevant to their summit but demonstrated Biden’s “moral values.” Though he raised doubt that the U.S.-Russia relationship could soon return to a measure of equilibrium of years past, Putin suggested that Biden was someone he could work with.
“The meeting was actually very efficient,” Putin said. “It was substantive, it was specific. It was aimed at achieving results, and one of them was pushing back the frontiers of trust.”
Putin said he and Biden agreed to begin negotiations on nuclear talks to potentially replace the New START treaty limiting nuclear weapons after it expires in 2026.
Washington broke off talks with Moscow in 2014 in response to Russia’s annexation of Ukraine’s Crimea and its military intervention in support of separatists in eastern Ukraine. Talks resumed in 2017 but gained little traction and failed to produce an agreement on extending the New START treaty during the Trump administration.
The Russian president said there was an agreement between the leaders to return their ambassadors to their respective postings. Both countries had pulled back their top envoys to Washington and Moscow as relations chilled in recent months.
The meeting in a book-lined room had a somewhat awkward beginning — both men appeared to avoid looking directly at each other during a brief and chaotic photo opportunity before a scrum of jostling 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 was “very clearly not responding to any one question, but nodding in acknowledgment to the press generally.”
Their body language, at least in their brief moments together in front of the press, was not exceptionally warm.
The two leaders did shake hands — Biden extended his hand first and smiled at the stoic Russian leader — after Swiss President Guy Parmelin welcomed them to Switzerland for the summit. When they were in front of the cameras a few minutes later — this time inside the grand lakeside mansion where the summit was held — they seemed to avoid eye contact.
Photos: Scenes from the Biden-Putin summit in Geneva

A police officer sits on a bench in in front of the ‘Villa la Grange’ ahead of the meeting of US President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin at the villa, in Geneva, Switzerland Wednesday, June 16, 2021. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

A worker vacuums the red carpet in front of the venue where President Joe Biden will meet Russian President Vladimir Putin, Wednesday, June 16, 2021, in Geneva, Switzerland. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

Russian president Vladimir Putin steps down the stairs from his airplane for the US – Russia summit with US President Joe Biden in Geneva, Switzerland, Wednesday, June 16, 2021. (Alessandro della Valle/Keystone via AP, Pool)

Russian president Vladimir Putin steps down the stairs from his airplane as he arrives for the US – Russia summit with US President Joe Biden in Switzerland, Wednesday, June 16, 2021. (Martial Trezzini/Keystone via AP, Pool)

The car carrying U.S. President Joe Biden drives in a motorcade to the ‘Villa la Grange’ ahead of the meeting of US President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin at the villa, in Geneva, Switzerland Wednesday, June 16, 2021. U.S. President Joe Biden and Russia’s Vladimir Putin are set to meet for their highly anticipated summit in the Swiss city of Geneva. It’s a moment of high-stakes diplomacy that comes as both leaders agree that U.S.-Russian relations are at an all-time low. (AP Photo/Michael Probst)

U.S. President Joe Biden arrives at the ‘Villa la Grange’ ahead of the meeting of US President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin at the villa, in Geneva, Switzerland Wednesday, June 16, 2021. U.S. President Joe Biden and Russia’s Vladimir Putin are set to meet for their highly anticipated summit in the Swiss city of Geneva. It’s a moment of high-stakes diplomacy that comes as both leaders agree that U.S.-Russian relations are at an all-time low. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

Swiss President Guy Parmelin, right, welcomes U.S. President Joe Biden, left, as he arrives at Villa La Grange for the U.S.-Russia summit in Geneva, Switzerland, Wednesday, June 16, 2021. (Denis Balibouse/Pool Photo via AP)

From left: Russian President Vladimir Putin, Swiss President Guy Parmelin, U.S President Joe Biden pose for media at the entrance of the ‘Villa la Grange’ in Geneva, Switzerland in Geneva, Switzerland, Wednesday, June 16, 2021. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, Pool)

Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, and U.S President Joe Biden shake hands during their meeting at the ‘Villa la Grange’ in Geneva, Switzerland in Geneva, Switzerland, Wednesday, June 16, 2021. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, Pool)

Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, and U.S President Joe Biden shake hands during their meeting at the ‘Villa la Grange’ in Geneva, Switzerland in Geneva, Switzerland, Wednesday, June 16, 2021. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, Pool)

Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, and U.S President Joe Biden shake hands during their meeting at the ‘Villa la Grange’ in Geneva, Switzerland in Geneva, Switzerland, Wednesday, June 16, 2021. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, Pool)

U.S President Joe Biden, right, and Russian President Vladimir Putin enter the ‘Villa la Grange’ during their meeting in Geneva, Switzerland in Geneva, Switzerland, Wednesday, June 16, 2021. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, Pool)

Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, and U.S President Joe Biden enter the ‘Villa la Grange’ in Geneva, Switzerland in Geneva, Switzerland, Wednesday, June 16, 2021. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, Pool)

President Joe Biden meets with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Wednesday, June 16, 2021, in Geneva, Switzerland. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken, left, meets with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, at the ‘Villa la Grange’, Wednesday, June 16, 2021, in Geneva, Switzerland. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken, as they meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Wednesday, June 16, 2021, in Geneva, Switzerland. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, as they meet with President Joe Biden, Wednesday, June 16, 2021, in Geneva, Switzerland. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

Russian President Vladimir Putin, as he meets with President Joe Biden, Wednesday, June 16, 2021, in Geneva, Switzerland. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

U.S President Joe Biden, center, and Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, shake hands during their meeting at the ‘Villa la Grange’ in Geneva, Switzerland in Geneva, Switzerland, Wednesday, June 16, 2021. Russian President Vladimir Putin thanked President Joe Biden and expressed wishes for a “productive” meeting as the two kicked off their meeting in Geneva Wednesday. (Mikhail Metzel/Pool Photo via AP)

U.S President Joe Biden, left, and Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, talk during their meeting at the ‘Villa la Grange’ in Geneva, Switzerland in Geneva, Switzerland, Wednesday, June 16, 2021. (Mikhail Metzel/Pool Photo via AP)

Russia’s President Vladimir Putin gestures as he addresses the media during a press conference after the U.S.-Russia summit with U.S. President Joe Biden at Villa La Grange in Geneva, Switzerland, Wednesday, June 16, 2021. (Denis Balibouse/Pool Photo via AP)

Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks during a news conference after his meeting with U.S President Joe Biden at the Villa la Grange in Geneva, Switzerland, Wednesday, June 16, 2021. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, Pool)

Russian president Vladimir Putin, left, talks with US president Joe Biden, right, during their summit in Geneva, Switzerland, Wednesday, June 16, 2021. (Peter Klaunzer/Keystone via AP)

President Joe Biden speaks during a news conference after meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Wednesday, June 16, 2021, in Geneva, Switzerland. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

President Joe Biden puts on his sunglasses toward the end of a news conference after meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Wednesday, June 16, 2021, in Geneva, Switzerland. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)
Published at Wed, 16 Jun 2021 18:55:00 +0000