President Joe Biden arrived at Geneva’s Villa La Grange for his highly anticipated summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin, with the two leaders shaking hands and heading inside the ornate meeting site.
Putin was welcomed first, 15 minutes before Biden arrived, at an 18th-century villa by Swiss President Guy Parmelin. The pair smiled before Putin prematurely extended his palm for a handshake. Parmelin led the Russian leader further up red-carpeted stairs to pose for waiting photographers.
Biden arrived a few minutes later in “The Beast,” his armored limousine with an American flag and a Swiss flag affixed to the hood on a warm summer day by scenic Lake Geneva. The two leaders eventually appeared with Parmelin and shook hands, Biden looking right at Putin as the former KGB agent looked toward the cameras opposite the entryway.
Putin arrived at Geneva Airport on time from Sochi, Russia, after making former President Donald Trump wait roughly an hour in 2018 in Helsinki. TV cameras captured him quickly walking down the covered steps of his plane before being swept into a secure vehicle flown in from Russia beforehand.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov arrived at Villa La Grange before Putin’s plane touched down for last-minute preparations before the meetings, which are expected to last between four and five hours.
Biden and Putin are expected to take part in a smaller bilateral discussion with their chief diplomats, including Secretary of State Antony Blinken. The group will then gather other close aides, the Russian contingent a repeat of their 2018 team compared to a fresh slate of U.S. representatives.
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Biden and Putin are then anticipated to host separate press conferences, a key difference from three years ago when the Russian leader got the best of Trump. The former U.S. leader sided with Putin over his own intelligence agencies about Russia’s 2016 election interference, with even many GOP lawmakers criticizing his performance.
By not holding a press conference with Putin and insisting he arrive first — he was late to his Helsinki huddle with Trump — the Biden White House already has shown it learned the lessons of that widely panned 2018 summit.
