Russian President Vladimir Putin met with his American counterpart, Joe Biden, on Wednesday at a historic manor in the Swiss city of Geneva for talks as part of the US leader's first foreign visit since taking office in January.
The two leaders, along with Moscow’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Washington’s Secretary of State Antony Blinken, sat down behind closed doors to discuss a range of geopolitical issues. The agenda included the Covid-19 pandemic, the situation in Eastern Ukraine, allegations of Russian meddling in recent US elections and the treatment of jailed opposition figure Alexey Navalny.
Speaking to reporters in a press conference later on Wednesday, Putin hailed the talks as “constructive” and praised Biden as a “statesman.”