16:20,

YEREVAN, JUNE 16, ARMENPRESS. Russian President Vladimir Putin and his US counterpart Joe Biden have begun talks in private in the library hall on the ground floor of the Villa La Grange in Geneva, reports TASS.

Before that the media was let in for an official photo session. Both leaders dropped several remarks. Also, they exchanged a couple of words when the reporters were leaving the room.

After the photo session the talks began behind closed doors. The two leaders are accompanied by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and interpreters.

Earlier Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov stated that the two leaders will discuss regional affairs, including the Nagorno Karabakh conflict, the Middle East, Syria, Lebanon, the situation around the Iranian nuclear program, the settlement of the situation in Afghanistan and the Korean Peninsula, Ukraine and Belarus.

This is the first face-to-face meeting between Putin and Biden since the US president took office.