Biden, Putin meet in Geneva

President Joe Biden described his three-hour meeting with the leader of Russia as neither friendly nor hostile, but professional and matter of fact. President Vladimir Putin agreed, saying the conversation in Geneva was productive.

What did they talk about? Biden said he made no threats, but made clear that if Russia crossed certain red lines—including going after major American infrastructure—the United States would respond and “the consequences of that would be devastating.” Putin insisted Russia wasn’t involved in recent ransomware attacks affecting U.S. companies. The two disagreed on Russia’s jailing of opposition leader Alexei Navalny. But they agreed to return their nations’ ambassadors to their posts in Washington and Moscow and to begin working toward replacing the last remaining treaty between the two countries limiting nuclear weapons.

Dig deeper: Read Jenny Lind Schmitt’s report on the two leaders’ historic meeting.