Biden-Putin summit highlights: 'I did what I came to do,' Biden said
Putin called the summit in Geneva "constructive" and without "hostility."
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:
- Biden gives Putin American Bison crystal sculpture and Aviator sunglasses
- Biden departs Geneva to end 1st overseas trip as president
- Biden snaps at reporter over whether he's confident Putin will change, later apologizes
- Biden says meeting Putin not about trust but about American 'self-interest'
- Biden says he raised many issues with Putin, but did not claim he changed his behavior
- Biden lays out 3 areas where he says he succeeded
Majority of Americans trust Joe Biden to negotiate on US behalf with foreign counterparts: POLL
An ABC News/Ipsos poll found a majority of the American public has a great deal or good amount of trust in Biden to negotiate on the country's behalf with other world leaders.
That level of trust -- 52% -- roughly tracks the president's overall approval rating, which averages 53%, according to FiveThirtyEight's tracker, and is about equal to the level of trust Americans have in Biden to negotiate with Russian President Vladimir Putin specifically. Still, 3 in 10 Americans, including 70% of Republicans, say they do not trust Biden at all to negotiate with his foreign counterparts, and about 2 in 10 (18%) Americans say they trust the president just some.
A slightly larger majority (57%) say they have confidence in the president to do the right thing regarding world affairs, while about 4 in 10 (42%) do not have much or any confidence in Biden to do so, according to the poll, which was conducted by Ipsos in partnership with ABC News using Ipsos' KnowledgePanel.
Compared to the level of trust and confidence in his predecessor, former President Donald Trump, at roughly the same point in his administration, Biden's marks are noteworthy and even more so when factoring in the current level of partisan division in the United States.
-ABC News' Quinn Scanlan
David Whelan talks about his brother who is being held in Russian labor camp
Putin indicated on Friday that he'd be willing to talk about a potential "prisoner swap" between two U.S. Marine veterans, Trevor Reed and Paul Whelan, for Russians being held in the U.S.
Russian officials have indicated they would like to trade Reed and Whelan for two Russians held in the U.S.: Viktor Bout -- one of the world's most notorious arms dealers and dubbed "the Merchant of Death" — and also Konstantin Yaroshenko, a pilot currently serving a lengthy jail sentence for a drug smuggling conviction.
David Whelan told ABC News Live Prime anchor Linsey Davis on Tuesday that his brother, who is manufacturing clothes in a Russian labor camp, is a hostage and that it's difficult to know when that might come to an end.
"I'm always hopeful that he'll be released, but I don't have any idea what the timeline might be," David Whelan said. "The Biden administration has been very outspoken about Paul's case and we've appreciated that as a family. It's given us hope and it's given him hope."
"But he's still a hostage and there's no evidence yet that the Russians are willing to exchange in any exchange for him," David Whelan continued. "They said last week -- the Russian government did — that they would not consider Paul for exchange."
Whelan's family released an audio message from him on Monday recorded from the prison camp in central Russia where he is held. In it, he appealed to Biden to help free him.
"Please bring me home to my family and my dog Flora where I belong. Thank you, Mr. President, for your commitment to returning me home and bringing this deplorable hostage situation to an expedient conclusion," Whelan said in the recording that his family said was made on May 30.
-ABC News' Haley Yamada and Patrick Reevell
WH disputes Biden nodded when he and Putin asked whether they trust each other during 'chaotic' photo op
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."