During their first face-to-face meeting, Biden and Putin described their discussions as “positive” and “constructive.” Both leaders agreed to begin consultations on cybersecurity and return their diplomatic posts.
“I really do think — not me, but I think we, the country, has put a different face on where we’ve been and where we’re going, and I feel good about it,” Biden said to the press, reflecting on his first foreign trip as President before boarding Air Force One.
Mr. Putin denied Russian responsibility for a surge in cyberattacks, and rebuffed U.S. criticism of human rights abuses. There were also hints of progress.
Biden and Putin emerged from their first in-person summit Wednesday and offered broad claims of good will, but it was clear that on issues ranging from cyberattacks to human rights, the two countries remain profoundly divided.
Putin said the leaders discussed Ukraine, but did not offer any details or conclusions beyond his insistence that the Minsk agreements be implemented to end the war in Donbass.
