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Biden-Putin summit highlights: 'I did what I came to do,' Biden said

Putin called the summit in Geneva "constructive" and without "hostility."

ByLibby Cathey, Lauren King, and Morgan Winsor
Last Updated: June 16, 2021, 5:41 PM EDT

U.S. President Joe Biden held a high-stakes summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday at what the leaders agree is a "low point" in the U.S.-Russia relationship.

The two men faced off inside an 18th-century Swiss villa, situated alongside a lake in the middle of Geneva's Parc de la Grange. The fifth American president to sit down with Putin, Biden has spoken with him and met him before, in 2016.

Having called Putin a "killer" and saying he's told him before he has no "soul," Biden told ABC News Chief White House Correspondent Cecilia Vega on Monday that he also recalled the Russian leader as being "bright" and "tough."

"And I have found that he is a -- as they say, when you used to play ball -- a worthy adversary," Biden said.

Highlights:

Here's how the news developed. All times Eastern.
Jun 15, 2021, 6:02 PM EDT

Biden says he has the full support of NATO allies to meet with Putin 

The high-stakes meeting between Biden and Putin comes on the heels of a summit with NATO leaders in Belgium's capital, another first for Biden as U.S. president.

As NATO allies wrapped up talks, Biden said Sunday that he has the full support of NATO partners to meet with the Russian president. 

President Joe Biden and other NATO heads of the states and governments pose for a family photo during the NATO summit at the Alliance's headquarters, in Brussels, June 14, 2021.
Kevin Lamarque/Reuters

"What I'll convey to President Putin is that I'm not looking for conflict with Russia but that we will respond if Russia continues its harmful activities," Biden said at a press conference in Brussels. "And we will not fail to defend the trans-Atlantic alliance or stand up for democratic values."

Biden said not a single NATO leader expressed reservations about him meeting with Putin but rather have "thanked" him for doing it.

"I had discussions with them about -- in the open -- about what they thought was important from their perspective and what they thought was not important," he said.

President Joe Biden takes off his face mask he meets with NATO Secretary General during a NATO summit at the North Atlantic Treaty Organization headquarters in Brussels on June 14, 2021.
Pool/AFP via Getty Images

Jun 15, 2021, 5:14 PM EDT

Here's what we know about who will be inside the the summit meetings

Biden and Putin's meeting is slated to begin on Wednesday around 7 a.m. ET and last four to five hours total, with multiple sessions.  

The two leaders will first take part in a small session, joined by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, before taking part in a larger working session.

The two leaders are also expected to host dueling, solo press conferences following the summit.

Then-Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin shakes hands with then-U.S. Vice President Joe Biden during their meeting in Moscow, on March 10, 2011.
Alexander Natruskin/Reuters, FILE

Biden said they weren't holding a joint news conference, as Trump did with Putin, because he didn't want the focus to be on talking time or body language. Doing it this way leaves Putin with less of an opportunity to embarrass the American president, as he's historically tried to do.

"I think the best way to deal with this is for he and I to meet, he and I to have our discussion," Biden said Sunday in England, on another leg of his first trip as president. "I don't want to get into being diverted by, did they shake hands, who talked the most and the rest."

Jun 15, 2021, 4:51 PM EDT

How is Biden prepping for his meeting with Putin?

While he is no stranger to Putin, Biden has been intensely prepping for the meeting, receiving at least once-a-day briefings for weeks leading up to the summit.

"He's been preparing for this like he prepares for every significant international engagement. He reviews the issues -- written material; he cares about digging into the details. That very much matters to him," a senior administration official said Tuesday.

The White House has also called on experts to help Biden prep for the meeting -- including Fiona Hill, a top Russia expert and National Security and former Trump administration official who famously said she considered faking a medical emergency to end Trump’s press conference with Putin in 2018 in Helsinki, Finland. 

Fiona Hill, former top Russia advisor to the White House, provides testimony in the impeachment inquiry of President Trump in Washington, DC, Nov. 21, 2019.
Bonnie Jo Mount/The Washington Post via Getty Images, FILE

Wednesday's meeting is slated to last four to five hours total, with multiple sessions.

-ABC News' Molly Nagle

Jun 15, 2021, 4:12 PM EDT

Biden says he's 'always ready’ ahead of Putin meeting

Biden arrived in Geneva earlier Tuesday less than 24 hours ahead of his meeting with Putin, scheduled for Wednesday around 7 a.m. ET and expected to last several hours. 

Looking to project confidence ahead of the high-stakes summit, Biden didn’t miss a beat during a photo op Tuesday with Swiss President Guy Parmelin. 

"Mr. President, are you ready for tomorrow?" a reporter asked.

"I’m always ready," Biden replied.

President Joe Biden meets with Swiss President Guy Parmelin during a bilateral meeting in Geneva, June 15, 2021.
Patrick Semansky/AP

The meeting with the Swiss president was Biden's final public event for the day. 

When the president arrived earlier in Geneva, he was met with a long line of greeters, many dressed in colorful outfits, as he stepped off Air Force One.

President Joe Biden steps off Air Force One at Cointrin airport as he arrives ahead of a meeting with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Geneva, June 15, 2021.
Denis Balibouse/Pool via Reuters

The White House said Biden will hold a solo press conference after meeting with Putin, where he will give his takeaways. Putin plans to do the same.

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