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Biden and Putin hold high-stakes Geneva summit

By Peter Wilkinson, Lauren Said-Moorhouse, Aditi Sangal, Melissa Macaya, Nick Thompson, Meg Wagner, Melissa Mahtani and Veronica Rocha, CNN

Updated 4:41 AM ET, Thu June 17, 2021

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4:34 p.m. ET, June 16, 2021

Biden says he and Putin agreed to task experts on cyberattacks

From CNN's Kevin Liptak in Geneva

President Joe Biden told his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin Wednesday that certain areas of "critical infrastructure" should be off-limits for cyberattacks, Biden said at a press conference afterward.

Biden said he outlined 16 specific entities that are defined as critical infrastructure, including energy and water, that both sides should agree are out of bounds for cyberwar.

"The principle is one thing, it has to be backed up by practice," Biden said. "Responsible countries need to take action against criminals who conduct ransomware activities on their territory.

Biden did not say how Putin responded beyond saying both sides agreed to task experts to "work on specific understandings on what’s off limits and to follow up on specific cases.

Biden said in response to a follow-up question that he told Putin the US has "significant cyber capability" and would respond to further cyberattacks.

"He knows it. He doesn't know exactly what it is, but he knows it’s significant," Biden said. "If in fact they violate his basic norms, we will respond."

1:44 p.m. ET, June 16, 2021

Biden says the tone of his meeting with Putin was "positive"

US President Joe Biden called the tone of his meetings with Russian President Vladimir Putin today in Geneva "positive."

"I must tell you, the tone of the entire meeting, I guess it was a total of four hours, it was good. Positive," he said in remarks at the start of a press conference following Putin's.

"There wasn't any strident action taken, where we disagreed, I disagreed, I stated what it was. Where he disagreed, he stated, but it was not done in a hyperbolic atmosphere. There's been too much of that going on," Biden said.

“Over this last week, I believe, I hope, the United States has shown the world that we are back standing with our allies, we rallied our fellow democracies to make concerted commitments to take on the biggest challenges our world faces, and now we’ve established a clear basis on how we intend to deal with Russia and the US-Russian relationship,” Biden continued.

"We have gotten a lot of business done on this trip," he added.

1:46 p.m. ET, June 16, 2021

Biden: Consequences of Navalny's death would be "devastating for Russia"

President Biden said he told Putin that if opposition leader Alexey Navalny dies the consequences "would be devastating for Russia."

He continued:

"What do you think happens when he's saying it's not about hurting Navalny, and all the stuff he says to rationalize the treatment of Navalny, and then he dies in prison? I pointed out to him that it matters a great deal when a country, in fact — and they asked me why I thought it was important to continue to have problems with the President of Syria — and I said because there's a violation of an international norm, and it's called the chemical weapons treaty. Can't be trusted. It's about trust. It's about their ability to influence other nations in a positive way."

1:38 p.m. ET, June 16, 2021

Biden: Putin "knows there are consequences" if there's more election meddling or cyberattacks

Following his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, US President Joe Biden was asked about what consequences there will be if there is further election meddling or other cybersecurity attacks against the US.

"He knows there are consequences," Biden told reporters in Geneva. "He knows I will take action."

Biden continued:

"Let's get this straight: How would it be if the United States were viewed by the rest of the world as interfering with the elections directly of other countries and everybody knew it? What would it be like if we engaged in activities that he's engaged in? It diminishes the standing of a country that is desperately trying to make sure it maintains its standing as a major world power."

4:34 p.m. ET, June 16, 2021

Why Biden wanted to meet with Putin in person

From CNN's Adrienne Vogt

US President Joe Biden explained why he thought it was important to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin in person.

"It was important to meet in person so there could be no mistake about or misrepresentations about what I wanted to communicate. I did what I came to do," Biden said.

"Number one, identify areas of practical work our two countries could do to advance our mutual interest and also benefit the world. Two, communicate directly, directly, that the United States would respond to actions that impair our vital interests or those of our allies. And three, to clearly lay out our country's priorities and our values so he heard it straight from me," Biden said.

1:31 p.m. ET, June 16, 2021

Biden says he told Putin his agenda is "not against Russia" but "for the American people"

From CNN's Adrienne Vogt

After meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, US President Joe Biden said the two leaders "share a unique responsibility to manage the relationship between two powerful and proud countries, a relationship that has to be stable and predictable."

"Where we have differences, I want President Putin to understand why I say what I say, and why I do what I do, and how we'll respond to different actions that harm America's interests. I told President Putin my agenda is not against Russia or anybody else. It's for the American people," Biden said.

The US President said his agenda includes fighting Covid-19, rebuilding the US economy, re-establishing relationships around the world with allies and protecting Americans.

1:42 p.m. ET, June 16, 2021

Biden to Putin: Certain critical US infrastructure should be off limits to cyberattacks, period.

From CNN's Maureen Chowdhury

US President Joe Biden said that he and Russian President Vladimir Putin spent a "great deal of time" discussing cybersecurity during their bilateral meeting in Geneva.

"I talked about the proposition that certain critical infrastructure should be off limits to attack, period. By cyber or any other means," Biden said during his remarks at a news conference following his meeting with Putin.

"I gave them a list... 16 specific entities, 16 defined as critical infrastructure under US policy, from the energy sector to our water systems. Of course the principle is one thing, it has to be backed up by practice. Responsible countries need to take action against criminals that conduct ransomware activities on their territory. So, we agreed to task experts in both our countries to work on specific understandings about what is off limits and to follow-up on specific cases that originate in other countries, and that's either of our countries," Biden said.

1:33 p.m. ET, June 16, 2021

Biden told Putin he will continue to raise concerns about human rights violations

US President Joe Biden said he told Russian President Vladimir Putin "human rights is always going to be on the table."

"It's not about just going after Russia when they violate human rights, it's about who we are," Biden said.

Biden said he "made it clear" to Putin that he will continue to speak out against cases where there are human rights violations concerns.

"I pointed out to him, that's why we are going to raise our concerns about cases, like Alexei Navalny. I made it clear to President Putin, and will continue to raise issues of fundamental human rights, because that's what we are. That's who we are," he said.

4:33 p.m. ET, June 16, 2021

NOW: President Biden holds news conference after Putin

From CNN's Kevin Liptak and Phil Mattingly

US President Joe Biden is holding a news conference now after wrapping talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier today in Geneva.

"There's no substitute, as those of you have covered me for a while know, for face-to-face dialogue between leaders, none," Biden said about their meeting. "President Putin and I share a unique responsibility to manage the relationship between two powerful and proud countries. A relationship that has to be stable and predictable. And we should be able to cooperate where it's in our mutual interests, and where we have differences, I wanted President Putin to understand why I say what I say, and why I do what I do, and how we will respond to specific kinds of actions that harms America's interests."

"I told President Putin my agenda is not against Russia or anybody else. It's for the American people," he continued.

Putin held his own solo news conference before Biden, where he said US and Russian ambassadors will return to their diplomatic posts and that both countries will begin consultations on cybersecurity. He described the summit as "constructive" and "productive" on the whole.

The official meetings between both leaders today were broken into two rounds, one a smaller session and the second with larger delegations. The total run time came in shorter than the four to five hours officials initially predicted for the summit.