LIVE: Joe Biden and Vladimir Putin meet in Geneva amid rising tensions between US and Russia

US President Joe Biden and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin shook hands in Geneva on Wednesday at the start of their first summit., with tensions at their highest level in years.

The two leaders shook hands after standing with their host, the Swiss president Guy Parmelin, in front of Villa La Grange overlooking Lake Geneva, where they will meet until five o’clock, with cyber attacks, Russian electoral interference and human rights violations as the main topics on the agenda.

“It is always better to meet face to face”, Biden said, after shaking hands with Putin. The Russian president, for his part, trusted that this meeting, which is expected to be tense due to the major disagreements between the two countries, Be “productive”.

President Putin was the first to arrive at 13:02 local time (11:02 GMT), directly from Geneva International Airport.

Biden arrived at Villa La Grange 15 minutes later from the hotel where you are staying and escorted by an impressive entourage of more than 30 vehicles.

Once at the mansion, the two they left accompanied by the Swiss president, who said his country was honored to host this meeting and thus promote dialogue and mutual understanding.

He also wished Putin and Biden a “Fruitful meeting in the interest of their respective countries and the whole world.

Minutes later the presidents appeared before the cameras seated in the large library at Villa La Grange, where they will hold at least the first part of their meeting, accompanied by their foreign ministers.

At around 2:30 p.m. (12:30 p.m. GMT) a first meeting will begin in an expanded format with five other members from each of the two delegations. A second part with this structure will continue at 4:15 p.m. (2:15 p.m. GMT).

The American delegation has also ruled out a working lunch at the summit for the time being.

The possibility of a single meeting will depend solely on Biden and Putin. At the end of the summit, each president will hold a separate press conference. Whether there will be an outcome document or a joint declaration remains open.

Agenda

The two leaders will address virtually all issues that concern both Moscow and Washington. On the agenda, the current state and prospects of bilateral relations, strategic stability, information security issues and the fight against cybercrime. They will also deal with economic cooperation, climate, the Arctic and the fight against the coronavirus.

Putin and Biden will also assess the situation in the Middle East, Syria, Libya, Afghanistan, the Korean Peninsula, as well as Iran’s nuclear program. They will also be attentive to the conflicts in Nagorno-Karabakh and Ukraine and to the crisis in Belarus.

US leader also wants to meet with Putin on human rights and persecution of Russian opposition, including those in jail Alexei Navalny.

As you might expect, he will also mention to his counterpart Americans imprisoned in Russia, including Paul Whelan, a former Marine sentenced to 16 years in prison for espionage.

Expectations

Neither leader arrives in Geneva with illusions. Biden seeks “stable and predictable” relationships, while Putin wants a dialogue based on mutual respect, in equality and without interference in the internal affairs of Russia.

Both delegations insist that the summit itself is already a step forward.

The Kremlin suggested as a possible outcome of the appointment the return of the ambassadors of the United States and Russia to their respective destinations and the elimination of obstacles to the work of the legations.

Beyond, the resumption of the dialogue on strategic stability is on the table to define the agenda for the expiry of the nuclear disarmament treaty New START in 2026 and the inclusion of new weapons in future pacts.

And restarting cybersecurity conversations. This dialogue began in 2013, but was frozen due to disagreements over Ukraine and alleged Russian interference in the 2016 presidential elections.

The state of relations before the summit

Putin’s predecessor in the Kremlin and current vice-president of the Russian Security Council, Dmitry Medvedev, assured that the two powers “went from rivalry to confrontation and returned to the era of the cold war”.

If then it was missiles, now it’s sanctions, Russian interference in elections and US interference in the post-Soviet backyard, NATO’s approach to the borders Russian Federation, aggressive actions by the Kremlin abroad or cyberattacks from Russian territory.

Tensions between the Kremlin and the White House soared in March after the US president called Putin a “murderer”, after which Moscow called its ambassador to Washington, Anatoly Antonov, for consultations, and recommended to the head of the American legation, John Sullivan, to leave the country.

In April, the United States imposed sanctions on Russia and expelled 10 diplomats for their alleged interference in the 2020 presidential elections, its alleged role in the massive SolarWinds cyberattack and its actions in Ukraine and Afghanistan.

The Kremlin has responded with similar measures, including the United States on a list of “hostile countries,” implying that Washington will not be able to hire local staff for its diplomatic missions on Russian soil, and has recently restricted travel. American diplomats on Russian soil. Russian.

With information from EFE and AFP

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