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The Biden-Putin meeting is over. Here’s what you need to know

President Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin shake hands in front of flags.
President Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin shake hands at Villa la Grange in Geneva ahead of their meeting Wednesday.
(Saul Loeb / Pool Photo)
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President Biden sat down with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday in Geneva — a very different meeting from those Putin had with President Trump, who repeatedly praised or deferred to the ex-KGB operative.

Biden has met Putin before, including in 2011 as President Obama’s vice president. That was before Russia interfered in the 2016 and 2020 presidential elections to benefit Trump, according to U.S. intelligence agencies. And before Biden said he viewed Putin as “a killer.”

Biden said he had a “frank” discussion with Putin about ransomware attacks from inside Russia, election interference, military incursions into Ukraine, U.S. prisoners in Russia and the jailing of opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who last year survived poisoning with a Russian nerve agent.

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