Biden and Putin hold high-stakes Geneva summit

The highly-anticipated summit between US President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin has now started, but the media spray at the top of the meeting got off to an unusual start amid a chaotic scrum of reporters from both countries.

Reporters were seen blocking cameras while other people were talking as the two presidents were trying to give their opening remarks to each other. As a result, the situation got incredibly tense between the two traveling press corps from the US and Russia, according to CNN Chief White House Correspondent Kaitlan Collins.

Collins explained the "pool" is a media practice where one representative for every medium is permitted to go into the room for a spray at the top of a meeting. That, she said, is usually one person representing television, one person with a camera, a print reporter, one radio reporter and so forth — usually about 15 reporters in addition to photographers.

Collins reported she was told of some combative exchanges and that the full American press corps did not actually make it into the room for that top spray, which is thought to be the only access media would get from within Villa la Grange for the next few hours.

The White House indicated that the scene inside the room was so chaotic that President Biden's communication was misunderstood by the press.

When a member of the US press pool asked the US President whether he trusted Putin, they wrote that Biden "looked me in the eye and nodded affirmatively."

But White House Communications Director Kate Bedingfield pushed back on the claim, saying the Biden "was very clearly not responding to any one question," but simply nodding to acknowledge the press generally.

Watch Kaitlan Collins report on Biden and Putin's photo op:

Read more about today's summit here.

CNN's Maegan Vasquez and Lauren Said-Moorhouse contributed reporting to this post.

As the meeting got underway, US President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin were joined by their top diplomats, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, with the traveling press pool in attendance.

Putin thanked his US counterpart for "the initiative to meet" as the pair sat down ahead of their summit in Geneva on Wednesday.

"Still the US and Russia and US relations have a lot of issues accumulated that require the highest level meeting and I hope that our meeting will be productive," he added.

Biden smiled once as Putin spoke, but the leaders were largely stone-faced. The two exchanged rare eye contact, but Putin largely looked down and was slouched in his chair.

Putin said, via translator, expressed hopes that the meeting will be “productive.”

Biden suggested they would work on areas of “mutual interest.”

Largely, however, the meeting was inaudible amid the clicks of cameras and jostling among reporters. One still photographer blocked the shot of multiple cameras for some time.

Biden looked down at some paper at one point. 

“Go away please,” a handler said to reporters as the spray concluded.

CNN Chief International Correspondent Clarissa Ward said that with such a high-stakes summit such as this one, "everyone is pouring over the details of who looks like what and who's conceding and who's winning."

But she added, "It's really important for them now to be able to close the door on journalists and have a really serious and substantive conversation."

Swiss President Guy Parmelin welcomed US President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin together to Geneva ahead of their high-stakes summit, wishing the two leaders a "fruitful dialogue."

The leaders listened as his remarks were translated. Putin and Biden then shook hands before entering the Villa La Grange.

US President Joe Biden and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin just took their first photo at the historic meeting at Villa la Grange in Geneva as the summit gets underway.

The two presidents stood outside the villa with the Swiss President Guy Parmelin, who made short remarks welcoming the two leaders. Parmelin said he wished the leaders a "fruitful dialogue in the interest of your two countries and the world."

Biden and Putin listened as his remarks were translated, first in Russian and then English. 

The Swiss leader bid them farewell, and Biden and Putin came together. 

They shook hands, looked at each other, and smiled. Putin turned toward the press and smiled some more, before turning around as the two presidents entered 18th century villa for their first round of meetings.

Both leaders have recently acknowledged a low point in relations between the two nations. 

Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived on-time to his summit in Geneva with US President Joe Biden — a rare occurrence for a world leader who is notorious for arriving late to similar gatherings.

Putin is known for arriving late to important events — considered a power play by some observers. And that pattern of tardiness has extended to meetings with former American presidents.

For example, Putin set his last summit with a US president — alongside then-President Donald Trump — about 45 minutes behind schedule after his late arrival. And in 2009 and 2012, Putin showed up about 40 and 45 minutes late for his meetings with then-President Barack Obama.

He also kept German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych waiting about four hours each in 2014 and 2012, respectively. Even the Pope waited more than an hour for Putin to show up at the Vatican in 2015.

Similarly to Putin's arrival, US President Joe Biden has just been welcomed to the summit site by the Swiss President, Guy Parmelin.

The pair also paused at the entrance to pose for photographers before heading inside.

We are expecting to see all three leaders reemerge to stand together and greet each other formally, CNN Chief International Correspondent Clarissa Ward says.

US President Joe Biden is traveling by motorcade to Villa La Grange, the site of his first face-to-face summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

He is the fifth American president to have a meeting with the Russian leader. And it comes about the same time in his presidency as his predecessors opened dialogue with Putin.

The Russian motorcade has delivered President Vladimir Putin and his delegation to Villa la Grange.

He was welcomed by Switzerland’s President Guy Parmelin on the mansion's steps where they posed briefly for photographers before heading inside, ahead of US President Joe Biden's arrival.

CNN Chief International Correspondent Clarissa Ward described Putin as appearing "relaxed" and "jovial."

US President Joe Biden will exchange greetings with Guy Parmelin, President of Switzerland, upon arriving for the summit.

When the leaders have all arrived, Biden, Parmelin and Russian President Vladimir Putin are expected to take a welcome photo.

Biden will then hold a bilateral meeting with Putin, which is expected to go for four to five hours, according to a Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov.

Biden and Putin are expected to hold separate news conferences after their bilateral talks have concluded.

Biden will then depart Geneva to return to Washington, DC.