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Talks in private between Putin, Biden concluded — Kremlin spokesman

This part of the talks lasted almost two hours instead of scheduled one hour and fifteen minutes
US President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin Mikhail Metzel/TASS
US President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin
© Mikhail Metzel/TASS

GENEVA, June 16. /TASS/. Russian and US Presidents Vladimir Putin and Joe Biden have completed their talks in private in Geneva. The meeting began at Villa La Grange at 13:36 local time.

"The private [talks] are concluded," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told TASS. 

This part of the talks was initially scheduled to take up one hour and 15 minutes, but it lasted almost two hours, finishing at 15:19 local time.

At the beginning of the talks, Putin voiced hope that the meeting with his US counterpart would be productive. He thanked Biden for the initiative to organize such a summit. The American leader, in turn, said that he would seek to discuss areas of potential cooperation and disagreements. He also noted, "it is always better to meet face to face."

Putin arrived at the summit location from Geneva Airport at 13:05, while Biden’s motorcade arrived at Villa La Grange at 13:17. They were both greeted by Swiss President Guy Parmelin. The three leaders then moved to the ceremonial entrance, where Parmelin delivered a short welcome address for his guests. Putin and Biden shook hands, the US leader extended his hand first, and then the presidents proceeded to the room allocated for the negotiations.

The TASS photo service’s footage shows that Putin and Biden shook hands one more time inside the building.