When Biden flew to Geneva, a senior US official told reporters on Air Force One: “We don’t expect a lot of results from this meeting.” He said that the two are expected to talk for four or five hours.

“I’m not sure any agreement will be reached,” Putin’s foreign policy adviser Yuri Ushakov said.

Biden and Putin appeared at the entrance where the flags of the United States, Switzerland and Russia were flying after the Swiss President Guy Palmerin delivered a welcome speech. After shaking hands, they entered the villa where the summit will be held.

Over the years, relations between the two countries have been deteriorating, especially Russia’s annexation of Crimea from Ukraine in 2014, intervention in Syria in 2015, and US accusations (which Moscow denies) that it interfered in the 2016 election, which led to Donald Trump’s admission to the White House. .

When Biden said he thought Putin was a “killer,” they slipped further in March, prompting Russia to recall its ambassador to Washington for consultations. The United States recalled its ambassador in April.

The senior U.S. official said that the United States is looking for “areas where joint efforts can advance our national interests and make the world safer.”

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that whether to send an ambassador will be decided by the two presidents. The Russian news agency quoted Peskov as saying: “Today, the presidents need to decide how to negotiate with the head of the diplomatic mission.”

Although the problem may be annoying, when the presidents meet in Villa La Grange, the surrounding environment will become tranquil. This elegant mansion is located in a 30-hectare park overlooking Lake Geneva.

Strictly sealed lock

On Wednesday, the surrounding area of ??the top of the mountain was tightly sealed and a large number of police officers were present. After the bilateral meeting, Biden and Putin will continue discussions with a wider range of US and Russian delegations, including US Secretary of State Anthony Brinken and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, as well as translators.

Despite the wider differences, arms control has historically been an area where progress is possible.

In February of this year, Russia and the United States extended the new START treaty for five years. The treaty imposed restrictions on the deployment of strategic nuclear warheads and restricted the delivery of land-based and submarine-based missiles and bombers.

The senior US official said that Biden will also define important areas of national interest where Russia’s misconduct will bring a response. Biden signed an executive order in April that gave Washington broad freedom to impose sanctions on Moscow.

As a sign of tension, the talks will not include any meals, and Putin and Biden are expected to hold separate press conferences, rather than jointly.

“Don’t break the bread,” a senior US official said.

‘Crazy stuff’

Vladimir Frolov, a former Russian diplomat, told Reuters that Putin wanted to establish a relationship of mutual respect and treat him like members of the Soviet Politburo from the 1960s to the 1980s, “symbolic recognition The equal status of Russia and the United States in geopolitics”

“In exchange, [Moscow] Willing to reduce some crazy things,” Frolov said, meaning “no poisoning, no physical violence, no arrest/kidnapping of American and Russian nationals.” Do not interfere in domestic politics. “

Dmitri Trenin, director of the Carnegie Moscow Center think tank, set a low threshold for Wednesday’s talks.

“In a positive sense, the main gain of the Geneva meeting is to ensure that the United States and Russia will not have physical conflicts, thereby avoiding military conflicts,” he said.