Biden, Putin conclude talks after roughly three hours

President Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin wrapped up their face-to-face summit after less than four hours of talks on Wednesday in Geneva.

The two men held talks joined only by their closest aides for roughly 90 minutes before moving into an expanded bilateral meeting. The expanded meeting concluded after about two hours, marking the end of the Switzerland summit, a White House official said.

Biden and Putin are scheduled to hold separate press conferences on Wednesday.

Administration officials had predicted the two sides could be in the room for as long as five hours. Biden had been tight-lipped about his exact message for Putin, but told reporters in recent days he planned to raise cyberattacks originating from Russia, Moscow’s aggression toward Ukraine and its treatment of dissidents.

The two men posed for photos at the outset of the summit as journalists scrambled to get in the room. U.S. reporters on the ground described a frantic scene where Russian security sought to block their entry and pull them out of the way.

Biden smiled and nodded as one reporter asked whether he trusted Putin. White House officials quickly and forcefully pushed back on the idea that Biden was responding to any question in particular, though, instead claiming the president was acknowledging the press in the room.