Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived in Geneva on Wednesday for a summit with US President Joe Biden, amid escalating tensions between Moscow and Washington, which have reached their highest levels in years. Putin's plane landed in Geneva at 10:27 GMT, shortly before the start of the first meeting between the two leaders.
The summit will address several topics, most notably cybersecurity, "interference" in US elections, and human rights issues. On Tuesday evening, the American presidential plane, Air Force One, arrived from Brussels at Kloten Airport, and Biden then went directly to a highly secure hotel to meet with Swiss President Guy Parmelin.
Biden will meet Putin for the first time since taking office in January 2020, following attendance at summits of the G7 and NATO, as well as a US-European summit. According to CNBC, this summit between Putin and Biden is one of the most significant "geostrategic" events of the year.
Switzerland was chosen to host the summit due to its well-known neutrality in foreign policy. This is not the first meeting between Biden and Putin, as they have met before, but it is the first time Biden will meet with President Putin in his capacity as the President of the United States.
Biden is meeting with the Russian president after recently reaffirming the United States' commitment to its NATO allies. On Tuesday, the Kremlin stated that the agenda of the summit would include "nuclear stability," climate change, and cybersecurity.
