US President Joe Biden and Russain President Vladimir Putin agreed on Wednesday to hold arms control and cyber-security talks, recording small gains and big differences at a first summit they it they both described as pragmatic rather than friendly. The discussions at the lakeside Villa La Grange in Geneva lasted three hours less than Biden's advisers had said they expected but the US president said they had been intense and detailed and that "we didn't need to spend more time talking. Putin 68 called Biden, 78 a constructive experienced partner, and said they spoke "the same language" but added that there had been no friendship rather a pragmatic dialogue about their two countries interests. Biden said he had told Putin "We need some basic rules of the road that we can all abide by, adding. I did what I came to do. The scheduling of separate press meets meant there was none of the joviality the accomplained a 2018 meeting in Helsinki between Putin and Biden's predecessor, Trump, where Putin presented Trump with a soccer ball. There was also no shared meal. Putin who was first to brief reporters, said the meeting had been constructive, without hostility, and had showed the leader's desire to understand each other. He said it was hard to say, if relations with the US would improve but that there was a "glimpse of hope" regarding mutual trust. There were no invitations to Washington or Moscow Biden, speaking shortly afterwards, said there was "no substitute far face-to-face dialogue" and that he had told Putin his agenda was "not against Russia" but "for American people. He too underlined the businesslike tone, saying. This is not about trust this is about self-interest. But he said there was a genuine prospect of improving ties.
