Putin and Biden shake hands prior to the Geneva summit

At the outset of their first encounter in Geneva on Wednesday, US President Joe Biden and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin shook hands, both men adopting an optimistic tone.

After meeting outside the La Grange estate overlooking Lake Geneva with their host, Swiss President Guy Parmelin, the two men exchanged greetings. They are expected to meet for up to five hours, with cyber-attacks, election tampering, and rights violations among the many controversial subjects on the agenda.

The two leaders exchanged a few courteous words while sitting in the luxurious villa's famed library, on each side of a globe and with their national flags behind them, before the accompanying journalists were asked to depart.

Biden seemed optimistic about meeting with his Russian counterpart, he even took the initiative for the summit, for which he was appropriately thanked by Putin. Putin was heard saying to Biden, “(Thank you) for your initiative to meet today.”

Putin also expressed his wishes for a productive meeting.

He also went ahead and said, "The US and Russian relations have a lot of issues accumulated that require the highest-level meeting. I hope that our meeting will be productive."

To which Biden remarked, “It is always better to meet face to face.”

Swiss President Parmelin expressed his ‘honour’ to host the Presidents in Switzerland. He said prior to the meeting, "I wish you both presidents a fruitful dialogue in the interests of your two countries and the world."

Even if they disagree on everything on the agenda, both have expressed hope that their meetings at a lakeside Geneva home will lead to more solid and predictable bilateral ties.

Relations have worsened in recent years, particularly since Russia's annexation of Crimea from Ukraine in 2014, its 2015 engagement in Syria, and US accusations of Russian interference in the 2016 election, which delivered Donald Trump to the White House despite Moscow's repeated denials.