Enlarge image
Putin and Biden in Geneva: Short handshake in greeting
Photo:
Alexander Zemlianichenko / AP
The meeting between Joe Biden and Vladimir Putin was eagerly awaited.
The US President and the Russian head of state have now arrived in Geneva for the summit.
The meeting started with a quick handshake.
It is the first meeting since Biden took office.
The agenda is extensive and discussions lasting several hours are expected.
Initially, both sides said that the meeting should last four to five hours.
However, the Kremlin does not rule out that the talks could drag on beyond this period.
The agenda is so complex that it is difficult to summarize it in four to five hour talks, said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on state television.
Putin had arrived at the site of the summit shortly before Biden.
He was welcomed by the Swiss President Guy Parmelin.
When Biden arrived, Parmelin drove to the airport, but Putin had not given an official greeting there.
Putin has a reputation for arriving late at meetings.
Relations between Russia and the US are broken.
Biden had asked Putin to attend the meeting in order to point out "red lines" in view of Moscow's policies, which are increasingly criticized in the West.
Talks on strategic stability in the world are planned at Lake Geneva.
Putin and Biden want to leave again in the evening
The list of sensitive topics is long.
Among other things, Biden and Putin want to talk about
Iran
, the
situation in Belarus
and the
conflict in Ukraine
.
The topics of
nuclear weapons and human rights
are also on the joint program.
Biden also wants to
address
the
most recent hacker attacks
, for which the US blames Russian citizens, "very directly".
However, there is no great hope of understanding.
"We're not expecting any great results," admitted a Biden advisor the night before.
In the evening, Biden and Putin plan to hold separate press conferences.
Both presidents have also planned to fly back to their homeland on the same day, according to the delegations in Geneva.
At Geneva Airport, take-offs and landings are actually not planned after 10 p.m. due to the noise, but there are always exceptions, especially for illustrious guests.
Even a joint dinner between Putin and Biden was not initially planned.
There were no plans for any meals at Villa La Grange.
The heads of state wanted to spend the planned breaks separately.
The summit will take place in the villa's library from 1821.
A book collection of around 15,000 works is on the shelves.
Both delegations also have several rooms in the villa where the presidents can retreat for breaks.
Geneva had to buy flags
In the host city of Geneva, there was a lack of Russian and American flags for the festive flagging before the summit, as the spokesman for the security department said.
The city had to buy these specially.
Many flags have already been set up at the airport to welcome Biden and Putin.
But the gem is the Montblanc Bridge in the middle of the city center, which leads over the Rhône.
Twelve Russian and twelve American flags were hoisted there, always alternating.
Both presidents have to drive their car columns over the bridge to the summit, the Villa La Grange.
Since both flags are in the colors white, red and blue, the picture is harmonious - and Geneva hopes that this is a good omen for the talks.
asc / dpa / AFP