Haka near the rose garden

Presidents Joe Biden and Vladimir Putin came to Geneva-situated villa La Grange to meet face-to-face for the first time. The run up to the meeting was used by administrations of both presidents to well prepare the ground for the meeting. While Moscow was mostly preoccupied with actions leading to having the meeting at all, Washington focused on creation of an environment in which the US president would look like a strong representative of the West.

The meeting ended without any breakthrough, save for the return of Ambassadors and a promise of consultation between respective foreign ministries. However, a short joint communique, eventually issued by the two presidents, showed that they operate within an old framework of their bilateral relations. Therefore, a meeting was not a new stage of these relations. It was merely a probing exercise.