Russian President Vladimir Putin, who is frequently late at high-level meetings, arrived on time at the 18th century Villa La Grange in Geneva for his high-stakes summit with President Joe Biden.
The Russian leader landed in Geneva and traveled to the summit venue, located in the Swiss city’s largest park, in a Russian-made Aurus limousine that was airlifted from Moscow for the summit along with a fleet of other vehicles.
Putin, 68, who has received a Russian-made vaccine against the coronavirus, wasn’t wearing a mask. However members of his delegation were wearing masks.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has arrived at a lakeside villa in Geneva for his summit with U.S. President Joe Biden.
The two leaders are set to start their meeting accompanied by their top diplomats and a pair of translators. Other senior officials plan to join them for two successive rounds of talks that are expected to last for several hours Wednesday.
Topics on the summit agenda include strategic stability, cyber security, climate change, the coronavirus pandemic and the Arctic. Putin and Biden also are expected to cover regional crises in Ukraine, Syria and Libya, as well as the Iranian nuclear program and Afghanistan.
Putin’s foreign affairs adviser, Yuri Ushakov, sought to moderate expectations for the summit but strongly emphasized the meeting’s importance amid the strained ties between Moscow and Washington.
“It’s the first such meeting that takes place at a time when the bilateral relations are extremely bad,” Ushakov told reporters this week. “Both parties realize it’s time to start dealing with the issues that have piled up.”
