President Joe Biden said that he "did what he came to do" in his summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Geneva on Wednesday.
The two leaders met for about three hours in their first summit of Biden's presidency, and the first such meeting between the two nations since 2018. The sit-down was part of an effort to put "guardrails" on U.S.-Russia relations, which have in recent years plummeted to historic lows.
In separate press conferences after the summit, the two leaders sounded notes of cautious optimism, casting the sit-down as a first, albeit very modest, step in a possible attempt to improve relations between the two nations.
"It was important to meet in person so there can be no mistake about or misrepresentations, about what I wanted to communicate," Biden said, adding: "The tone of the entire meeting was good, positive."
Speaking first, Putin characterized his meeting with Biden as "constructive" and "quite productive," but claimed that "everything to do with the deterioration of our mutual relations was initiated not by us, but by the USA," suggesting that tensions remain.
The president said he thought there is a "genuine prospect to significantly improve" relations between the two nations, but noted that the upcoming months will be a "test."
"That's going to be the test," Biden said. "I am not sitting here saying because the president and I agreed that we would do these things that all of a sudden it's going to work. I'm not saying that. What I am saying is I think there's a genuine prospect to significantly improve the relations between our two countries, without us giving up a single, solitary thing based on principle and our values."
The pair met for more than three hours on Wednesday, first in a smaller session and later in a larger meeting that was expanded to include more officials from both sides and which lasted about 65 minutes. The first session was lasted one hour and 33 minutes, followed by a 20-minute break before the second session, which lasted an hour and 27 minutes, according to the White House pool.
Biden said that he spoke to Putin about a number of issues, including election interference and imprisoned American citizens: "Bottom line is, I told President Putin that we need to have some basic rules of the road that we can all abide by."
"No president of the United States could keep faith with the American people if they did not speak out to defend our democratic values," Biden continued. "Human rights is going to always be on the table, I told him."
"How could I be the president of the United States of America and not speak out against the violation of human rights?" Biden asked.
On the subject of human rights, Biden said that if opposition leader Alexei Navalny dies in prison, "I made it clear to him that the consequences of that would be devastating for Russia."
Holding his own news conference before Biden’s, Putin called the meeting “very constructive.”
“I don't think there was any kind of hostility,” he said, according to a translator. “On the contrary, our meeting was obviously a fundamental one. Many of our joint positions are divergent, but nevertheless, I think that both sides manifested determination to try and understand each other and try and converge our positions.”
Putin described Biden as “very balanced, a professional man. It's obviously clear that he's very experienced.”
The Russian president said the two leaders agreed that their ambassadors should return to their posts. Russia recalled its ambassador to the U.S. in April after the Biden administration announced it was expelling 10 diplomats and imposing other sanctions for Russia interfering in last year’s presidential election and hacking into the computer networks of federal agencies.
Days later, U.S. Ambassador to Russia John Sullivan returned to Washington.
Putin said he and Biden also agreed to expert consultations between the two countries on cybersecurity, but did not go into detail about what that meant. While the United States has pointed the finger at Russia for ordering major cyberattacks or harboring hackers, Putin accused the U.S. of being an even worse culprit. He said Russia has received 10 complaints from the U.S. about cyberattacks in recent years, but that Russia submitted 80 such complaints to the U.S. over the past two years and received no reply about them.
“I don’t think the U.S. administration is particularly interested in looking into that,” Putin said. “All they do is make insinuations.”
In terms of cybersecurity, Biden said he gave Putin a list of 16 areas of U.S. critical infrastructure, including water companies and the energy sector, that he deemed "off-limits to cyberattack, period.”
"Responsible countries need to take action against criminals who conduct ransomware activities on their territory," Biden said.
Asked by a reporter what the U.S. would do if Russia violated that designation, Biden said: "I pointed out to him we have significant cyber capabilities.”
Putin "doesn't know exactly what it is but he knows it's significant," he added. "If in fact they violate these basic norms, we will respond … he knows, in a cyber way." Biden's remarks come after several ransomware attacks on major U.S. companies in recent months, including Colonial Pipeline and meat supplier JBS.
For his part, Putin continued his strong denial that any of the aforementioned cyberattacks had come from Russia, telling reporters that "most of the cyberattacks in the world are carried out from the cyber realm of the United States," followed by Canada, Latin America and Britain.
"Russia's not on the list," Putin added.
Putin was asked multiple times about dissension in Russia, particularly by opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who was poisoned last year and is currently jailed for violating his probation over a 2014 money laundering case. The Russian president accused of Navalany of ignoring laws.
“I take the view that he wanted consciously to break the law,” he said. “He did exactly what he wanted to do. So what kind of discussion are we having?”
Asked about the treatment of political opponents and dissidents in his country, Putin attempted to dodge the question, instead pointing fingers at the U.S. for prosecuting Americans who took part in the Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol insurrection, and suggest it was a similar crackdown of free speech. (Biden later dismissed the claim as "a ridiculous comparison.”)
Putin also cited Black Lives Matter demonstrations in the U.S. last year in justifying why Russia seeks to quell street protests.
“What we saw (were) mass violations of the law (in the U.S.). … We do not wish that this kind of thing should happen on our territory,” he said.
Putin said Biden also asked about releasing two Marines jailed in Russia, with the Russian leader saying, “We might be able to find some sort of compromise there.”
Putin had previously proposed the possibility of a prisoner swap, which was rejected by the White House.
Paul Whelan is serving a 16-year sentence after being convicted of suspicion of spying, and Trevor Reed is serving eight years after he was found guilty of assaulting two police officers. They both deny the allegations. The U.S. believes the men are being used as bargaining chips by the Russian government and has called for their release.
On Ukraine, Putin said he is willing to follow the 2014 Minsk agreement to end the armed conflict between the two countries, but said Ukrainian proposals about military positions, a border closure and elections have “nothing to do with the Minsk agreements.”
Shortly before departing the news conference, Biden told reporters he is "not confident" Putin or the Russian government will change their behavior, but reiterated his belief in joining with like-minded nations to form a united front against Moscow's aggression.
"What will change their behavior is that the rest of the world reacts to them and it diminishes their standing in their world." Biden said.
Following their separate press conferences, Biden and Putin released a joint statement affirming that "even during periods of tension," they believe they can make progress on "ensuring predictability in the strategic sphere, reducing the risk of armed conflicts and the threat of nuclear war."
"The recent extension of the New START Treaty exemplifies our commitment to nuclear arms control," the joint statement read. "Today, we reaffirm the principle that a nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought."
"Consistent with these goals, the United States and Russia will embark together on an integrated bilateral Strategic Stability Dialogue in the near future that will be deliberate and robust," the statement from the leaders concluded. "Through this Dialogue, we seek to lay the groundwork for future arms control and risk reduction measures."
NOTE: This article has been updated to reflect the accurate timing of the summit.