WASHINGTON (AP) — By abandoning the traditional joint press conference in favor of separate events, U.S. President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin accomplished their own objectives following their summit on Wednesday. Biden was able to privately air objections with the Russian leader while preventing a scene in which he and Putin found themselves on equal footing. And Putin, at least for a few hours, captured much of the world’s attention. But the settings of the events, the side tangents the leaders indulged and the questions that inflamed their tempers also revealed how Biden and Putin see their roles and vulnerabilities. At times, they were both fatalistic in their assessments of U.S.-Russian relationship.
