Five months after US President Joe Biden took office, he met his Russian colleague Vladimir Putin for his first summit meeting. At a press conference after the meeting, Putin announced the first results: the ambassadors’ return to Moscow and Washington. The diplomats returned to their homeland in the spring as tensions between the two countries grew. According to information from American delegation circles, the meeting lasted a total of three hours and 21 minutes – less than both sides had previously announced. The Russian delegation was prepared for talks lasting at least four to five hours.
They took place in the early afternoon in Geneva at the Villa La Grange. Biden spoke of a meeting between two “great powers”. Putin said that “many questions have pent up” in the relations between the two countries.
The Russian presidential machine, a converted Ilyushin Il-96, landed at Geneva Airport around 12.30 p.m. Ten minutes later, Putin stepped down the gangway into one of the two black Aurus sedans that had been flown in along with Biden’s car, known as “The Beast,” the beast. The convoy started moving towards Villa La Grange.
Four minutes late, Putin arrived at the villa, where the Swiss President Guy Parmelin received him. After a brief handshake for the photographers, the two went into the building. Onlookers gathered on the bridges over the Rhône to catch a glimpse of US President Joe Biden’s drive to the summit, at least from a distance.
At 1:09 p.m., his convoy also started moving, as reported by accompanying journalists. Biden had already flown from Brussels to Switzerland on Tuesday afternoon after the EU-US summit. People in downtown Geneva cheered the column rushing by. Like Putin before, Parmelin greeted Biden on the red carpet in front of the villa, shaking hands, Biden waved briefly and smiled. Then the Swiss President showed him into the building.
Shortly afterwards, Parmelin, Biden and Putin stepped again briefly in front of the villa’s door for the official greeting and a first summit photo. In French, Parmelin said it was an honor and a pleasure for Switzerland to welcome the two presidents to Geneva – the “City of Peace”, as he said. After New York, Geneva is the second headquarters of the United Nations and was home to its predecessor, the League of Nations. He placed the summit in the tradition of neutral Switzerland to promote “dialogue and mutual understanding” and wished the President “fruitful talks”. He concluded with “best wishes and goodbye,” which he repeated in English and Russian. Translations of his greeting followed before the presidents shook hands and retired to the villa.
For a few minutes, photographers and camera teams were allowed into the library, where the presidents and their foreign ministers had already taken their seats. Putin thanked Biden for his initiative for the meeting; the US president had proposed the summit in April when large Russian troops were deployed on the border with Ukraine. In the Russian media, the fact that the meeting will take place has already been viewed as a success – the meeting is tantamount to recognizing Russia’s status as a great power on an equal footing with the United States.
“It is always better to meet face-to-face,” said Biden, “to try to see where we have common interests and where we can and cannot cooperate.” He will try to find a “predictable and rational way” for the future of the relations between the “two great powers”, he added. Putin said he hoped the talks would be productive: “I know you’ve had a long journey. A lot of work. Nonetheless, a lot of questions have pent up in Russian-American relations.”
An official meal for the heads of state or the delegations is not planned. Both presidents planned to leave Geneva that evening and fly back to their capitals.