Biden, Putin Discuss Iran, Syria, Afghanistan in Geneva  

United States President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday held their first meeting since Biden’s election, speaking face-to-face for nearly four hours on a host of issues including nuclear arms control, cyber warfare, human rights and Middle East affairs. The two leaders have shared a rocky relationship in recent months, which included the mutual withdrawal of ambassadors, ransomware attacks against American companies and some fiery rhetoric. According to Biden, the Geneva summit covered regional matters such as the humanitarian crisis in Syria, preventing the resurgence of terrorism in Afghanistan and “how it is in the interest of both Russia and the US to ensure that Iran does not acquire nuclear weapons.” The aftermath of the Libyan civil war, recently ended in a still-shaky UN-brokered deal, was also broached, the US president said.