Watch live: Biden holds press conference after meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin
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President Joe Biden is holding a press conference following a bilateral meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Geneva, Switzerland.
Biden and Putin held separate press briefings, with the Russian president having spoken to reporters first.
Biden’s presser comes on the heels of his first international trip as president, where he reaffirmed alliances with G-7 leaders and NATO allies. At NATO’s headquarters, Biden told reporters that he consulted with other world leaders in the days ahead of his meeting with Putin.
“Every world leader here, most of them mentioned it and thanked me for meeting with Putin,” Biden said Monday.
“I had discussions with them about what they thought was important from their perspective and what they thought was not important,” he said, adding that his counterparts appreciated his transparency and coordination.
Biden was expected to raise concerns with Putin over a series of ransomware attacks, cybersecurity concerns and nuclear weapons.
Biden was aiming to present a contrast to the summit that took place in July 2018 between then-President Donald Trump and Putin in Helsinki.
Trump insisted that the two leaders meet at the beginning of the summit without any aides present — stirring concerns that Putin, a former KGB officer, would outflank his American counterpart. Trump also said he believed Putin’s denial of Russian meddling in the 2016 election even though U.S. intelligence agencies concluded that Moscow had done so.
