Russian President Vladimir Putin has arrived in the Swiss city of Geneva for a summit with US President Joe Biden.
The summit agenda covers a broad range of issues, from arms control and cybercrime to the pandemic and a diplomatic tug-of-war between Moscow and Washington.
But Biden and Putin have both emphasised the importance of a direct dialogue to try to negotiate a more stable and predictable relationship despite the sharp policy differences between the United States and Russia.
Ties between the two powers have remained at post-Cold War lows over Moscow's 2014 annexation of Ukraine's Crimean peninsula, accusations of Russian interference in elections, hacking attacks and other irritants.
The two leaders are scheduled to meet for four or five hours at a lakeside mansion.
A protester wearing a mask of Russian President Vladimir Putin throws fake bank notes in front of a poster of Alexei Navalny ahead of a meeting between US President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Geneva, Switzerland | Reuters
Putin imitator reaches Geneva a day before the summit
The day before Russian President Vladimir Putin was due to arrive in Geneva for a historic summit with the US President Joe Biden, an impersonator wearing a Putin mask had arrived in the city, Reuters reported. The lookalike, who was wearing military pants, was at a protest demanding release of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny. Protestor Alexander Lyubuschin sat on a bench in Geneva square and next to him was a fake pistol and a sample bottle of nerve agent Novichok, which, according to German doctors, was used to poison Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny last year.
When asked if he expects a good outcome of the summit, he replied, "But of course. If not, I will cut off all gas and oil”.
-- With PTI inputs
