‘We won’t tolerate it’: Joe Biden’s stark warning for Vladimir Putin

Joe Biden had strong words for Vladimir Putin during their meeting, as the Russian President said Biden was ‘very different’ to Donald Trump.

Russian President Vladimir Putin meets with US President Joe Biden in Geneva. Picture: AFP

US President Joe Biden said he would “not tolerate” Moscow’s cyber attacks on top American targets and warned Vladimir Putin of “devastating consequences” should a prominent Russian opposition figure die in custody.

Mr Putin and Mr Biden gave separate and differing accounts of their first summit as leaders, which wound up early in Geneva after three hours.

Speaking at the end of his first meeting as leader with Mr Putin, Mr Biden said it would be several months before he could be “confident” of improvement in the cratering relationship between the US and Russia.

But amid an onslaught of state-sponsored cyber attacks on the US, he said he had given Mr Putin a list 16 “off limits … critical infrastructure” targets.

“He knows I will take action,” Mr Biden said.

There were even a few smiles between the two leaders at their meeting in Geneva. Picture: AFP

“I pointed out to him that we have significant cyber capability. He doesn’t know exactly what it is, but it’s significant.”

Mr Putin spoke first following the summit after the White House refused a joint press conference, with the Russian president labelling the new US president “very different” to his predecessor, Donald Trump, as he unleashed a series of verbal attacks on the US.

After denying Russia’s involvement in hacking a number of US institutions and in election tampering, Putin said America was the worst cyber security offender.

But he also said the pair agreed to work together on the issue.

“We’re going to start consultations. What we think is, when it comes to cybersecurity, cybersecurity is incredibly important in the world in general,” Mr Putin said.

He also used his answers to slam American society and gun crime.

“You don’t have time to open your mouth and you’re shot dead,” he said of life of the US.

“Look at American streets. People are getting killed there. You can get a bullet in the neck.”

Mr Putin said the pair were committed to improving relations, even though the new US leader had not invited him to the White House like Mr Trump had done.

“There has been no hostility,” Mr Putin said.

“On the contrary, our meeting took place in a constructive spirit.

“Both sides maintained a determination to understand each other.”

Mr Putin spoke of his relationships with different American leaders and compared the Biden White House to that of Mr Trump’s.

US President Joe Biden (L) meets with Russian President Valdimir Putin. Picture: AFP

“This one decided to act differently,” he said in comments that were translated live.

“President Biden is an experienced statesman. He is very different from President Trump.”

Mr Biden described his past week of touring Europe to meet world leaders including – Prime Minister Scott Morrison – at the G7 Summit a success.

“I did what I came to do,” he said.

“There’s more work ahead … but we’ve gotten a lot of business done.”

Mr Biden said he believed that while Putin wanted a thaw in US relations, he “wasn’t ready to lay down his arms”.

“I don’t think he’s looking for a Cold War with the United States,” he said, adding that he told Putin, “It’s clearly not in anybody’s interest, your country’s or mine”, or the situation to escalate.

“But that does not mean he’s ready to ‘lay down his arms,’” Mr Biden said of Mr Putin.

Mr Biden said of the negotiations that while he and Mr Putin “know each other well, we’re not old friends. This is pure business”.

“This is about how we move from here,” he said.

“This is about practical straightforward, no-nonsense decisions.”

And while Mr Biden said he had confronted Putin on issues ranging from Ukraine sovereignty, arms control measures and human rights, “there was no hostility in our discussion”.

The two leaders met in Geneva. Picture: AFP

“The tone … was good, positive. There wasn’t any strident action taken,” he said before apparently targeting Trump’s unorthodox approach to foreign relations.

“It wasn’t done in a hyperbolic atmosphere – that is too much what was going on.”

Mr Biden said his strongest words were about Moscow’s detention of Putin critic Alexei Navalny, who is in critical condition after being arrested on his return to Russia from exile.

He said “the consequences of that would be devastating for Russia” if Navalny were to die in custody.

Earlier, the leaders’ high stakes summit got off to a tense start as Mr Putin impatiently tapped his seat during a photo session and the US President appeared confused as he nodded that he “trusted” his counterpart.

The first face-to-face meeting between the leaders since Mr Biden became president began with chaotic scenes of Russian security jostling with the White House press pack as they shouted questions at the leaders.

Joe Biden was not amused when a scuffle broke out between journalists and security. Picture: AFP

Mr Biden described Russia as a “great power” ahead of the meeting as Mr Putin said the “highest level meeting” was necessary due to “issues” between the two nations.

Relations between the US and Russia are at their lowest point in decades amid increasing aggression from Moscow including cyber attacks, election interference and tension in Ukraine and the Middle East.

The summit came just hours after Russian ships conducted their largest military exercises since the Cold War off the coast of Hawaii.

The Russian Navy’s show of strength in the Pacific Ocean about 500km west of Hawaii included the deployment of long-range bombers, surface ships and anti-submarine aircraft.

The meeting marked the first in-person talks between the pair since Joe Biden became president. Picture: AFP

The US Air Force scrambled F-22 stealth fighters from Hawaii in response but the Pentagon said that bombers did not enter the Air Defense Identification Zone and were not intercepted.

Biden has previously labelled Putin a “dictator” and claimed that after the last time they met in 2011, he had challenged the Russian by saying: “I don’t think you have a soul”.

Shoving ensues among press corps covering the Biden-Putin summit in Genevahttps://t.co/8SuV9shcYVpic.twitter.com/csJilAPwtw

— JM Rieger (@RiegerReport) June 16, 2021

But in the lead-up to Wednesday’s meeting in Geneva, Switzerland, he tempered his language.

“He’s bright, he’s tough, and I have found that he is — as they say when I used to play ball — a ‘worthy adversary’,” Mr Biden said Monday.

The leaders were meeting for several hours Wednesday, with an initial 90 minute session followed by an expanded bilateral.

Mr Putin was set to hold the first press briefing after the summit, followed by Mr Biden who was to address reporters ahead of his return to Washington after a week in Europe.

Joe Biden and Vladimir Putin. Picture: AFP

Senior Republicans have criticised Mr Biden’s decision to hold separate briefings as a sign of “weakness”

“The fact that you are not prepared to stand six or eight feet from your adversary and tell the world what you talked about, the things you care about, and why you care about them, shows an enormous weakness,” said former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo this week.

“They are watching this. When they smell weakness, when they can sniff it … they will drive a truck through it. To see if you are not prepared to simply stand on a podium and respond to questions from the press that might be hard or tricky while your adversary is standing a few feet away from you, that is an enormous sign of weakness.”