Biden, Putin upbeat as Geneva summit starts

US President Joe Biden and his Russian counterpart Vladimir  Putin shook hands in Geneva on Wednesday at the start of their first  summit, with both men striking an upbeat tone.  

The two men greeted each other after standing with their  host, Swiss President Guy Parmelin, outside the La Grange villa  overlooking Lake Geneva, where they are set to meet for up to five hours  --with cyber-attacks, election meddling and rights abuses among the  many contentious issues on the agenda.  

Sitting in the plush villa’s renowned library, on either  side of a globe and with their respective flags behind them, the two  leaders exchanged a few cordial remarks before the accompanying  journalists were asked to leave.  

Putin thanked Biden “for your initiative to meet today.”  “The US and Russian relations have a lot of issues accumulated that  require the highest-level meeting,” he said, adding: “I hope that our  meeting will be productive.” Biden, who not only took the initiative for  the summit itself but also for that first handshake, smiled and said:  “It is always better to meet face to face”.  
GENEVA AFP June16, 2021