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

In a photo-op surrounded by chaos, some reporters were let inside a small door leading to the room where Biden and Putin were already sitting down for the first meeting of their summit. 

"I would like to thank you for your initiative in today's meeting," Putin said, according to a transcript from the Kremlin. "I know you've had a long trip, a lot of work. Nevertheless, there are many issues in Russian-American relations that need to be discussed at the highest level, and I hope that our meeting will be productive."

Biden replied, "Thank you, as I said outside, I think it's always better to meet face-to-face. I’m trying to determine where we have mutual interests and we can cooperate. And where we don't, establish a predictable and rational way in which we disagree. Two great powers." 

The summit is expected to go as long as five hours, and while the two leaders are expected to take breaks and expand their meeting to a larger group, no updates are expected until their dueling solo press conferences later.

At least two American reporters who made it inside the meeting said afterward that Russian security pulled on their clothes as they tried to push the journalists out.

When Russian security yelled and shoved at journalists to get out, both press and White House officials "screamed back that the Russian security should stop touching us," according to a pool reporter.

"Both presidents watched and listened to the media scuffle in front of them. They appeared amused by the scene," the reporter said.

The media scrum also appeared to momentarily delay the Swiss president’s departure from the villa. His motorcade pulled up for him to leave, and officials or security tried to move the reporters out of the way. The Swiss president came out and was able to pull away.

One critical message the president will carry, according to U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, is demanding that Russia stop "harboring in any way criminal organizations engaged in cyberattacks, including ransomware" and urging "Russian cooperation in dealing with these criminal organizations to the extent they're operating from Russian territory."

But tough talk and mounting U.S. sanctions have not deterred Russian behavior, from crackdowns against domestic political opposition and pro-democracy movements to aggression overseas against neighbors Ukraine and Georgia or western democracies and their elections.

Pressed on that Sunday by ABC "This Week" co-anchor Martha Raddatz, Blinken said U.S. sanctions "can be" effective, "especially when they're done in coordination with other countries."

To that end, he emphasized what the administration had said was the importance of Biden meeting American allies in the Group of Seven, NATO and the European Union before sitting down with Putin.

But some of those alliances are bruised after four years of former President Donald Trump's badgering and questioning -- with many Europeans in particular unsure whether "Trumpism" is here to stay or whether "America is back," as Biden has made his tagline for this trip.

Blinken didn't take that political question head on, but he said the U.S. and its allied democracies have "to actually demonstrate in concrete ways that democracies working together are making a difference for their people and for people around the world" -- especially in contrast to Russia and China.

-ABC News' Conor Finnegan

Biden and Putin's first -- and likely only -- photo op inside their summit was met with a chaotic scene.

According to a pool report, the chaos began outside the room with "10 minutes of a shoving match" between the U.S. and Russian security, press and delegations, with each side aiming to get inside. American reporters were first to go in but not all were let inside.

Already seated, Biden nodded while they shouted questions, including whether the two leaders can trust each other -- but the White House is already disputing that Biden was nodding yes to that.

"It was a chaotic scrum with reporters shouting over each other. @POTUS was very clearly not responding to any one question, but nodding in acknowledgment to the press generally. He said just two days ago in his presser: 'verify, then trust," White House communications director Kate Bedingfield said in a tweet.

Another reporter asked Putin if he feared imprisoned Russian opposition leader Aleksei Navalny and what he would do if Ukraine is allowed to join NATO. Putin didn't answer.

On the way out, another shoving match ensued.

"Lots of shoving and grabbing - it was extremely aggressive," one American pool reporter said. "The Russian security pulled on our clothes and shoved us as we tried to stay in the room. They eventually pushed us out the door."