One of the most highly-anticipated political events of the year is about to begin as Russian President Vladimir Putin travels to Geneva on Wednesday morning for his summit with U.S. President Joe Biden.
The summit will take place at Villa La Grange in the capital of Switzerland (chosen as a location for the summit due to its history of political neutrality) and is expected to take up to five hours.
The summit includes an initial meeting between the presidents and their closest officials, and then talks between the wider Russia and U.S. delegations will be followed by separate press conferences with the two leaders.
Putin is expected to arrive first at the summit venue, around midday U.K. time, senior White House officials said Tuesday, followed by Biden with both leaders greeted by the Swiss President Guy Parmelin.
The summit will begin with a first meeting between Biden and Putin accompanied by Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Russia Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, as well as translators, White House officials noted.
After this initial meeting a wider delegation will meet for several sessions before both leaders give separate press conferences; Putin is expected to give the first media update, followed by Biden. No time has been set aside for a meal during the summit, but breaks for the leaders are expected.