Putin describes summit as 'constructive', says Biden is 'very different' from predecessor

Following his summit with US Presdient Joe Biden, Russian President Vladimir Putin held his solo press conference in Geneva, taking questions from Russian reporters.

Putin told the media that he and Biden had agreed their ambassadors should return to their respective posts and resume their diplomatic duties, reports the Guardian.

The Russian ambassador to the US, Anatoly Antonov, and the US ambassador to Russia, John Sullivan, had been in their home countries for the past several months because of heightened tensions between the two nations.

Taking a question from CNN, Vladimir Putin was asked whether the talks between him and Joe Biden were hostile in nature.

The Russian president insisted the talks were not hostile and were in fact "quite constructive," with both sides showing a "willingness to understand one another," according to the translation of Putin's comments.

He added that he and Biden agreed to "start negotiations" on cybersecurity. The White House had indicated Biden would raise the issue of recent cyberattacks against major corporations during his meeting with Putin.

He also said they had discussed Ukraine possibly joining the Nato alliance - something he said "we touched on it broadly".

Vladimir Putin bristled against a question about Alexei Navalny, the imprisoned opposition leader who was previously poisoned with a nerve agent.

Putin refused to even say Navalny's name, instead referring to him simply as "this man". The Russian president also accused Navalny of "deliberately" breaking the law.

In an interview this week, Putin refused to guarantee Navalny's safety in prison, and Joe Biden warned the opposition leader's death would be very detrimental to US-Russian relations.

Putin also gave Joe Biden a rare compliment, describing him as an "experienced statesman".

They spoke in detail for two hours, Putin said, not something you could do with most politicians, reports the BBC.

"He is very different from President Trump," Putin said.

President Biden has not invited Putin to the White House, the Russian president confirmed. Putin said he had not invited Biden to Moscow either.

"I believe that for such meetings and visits to happen, there should be conditions that are right," he said.

Both countries responsible for nuclear stability

In response to questions, President Putin said that Russia and the US will explore changes to the recently extended New Start arms control treaty.

New Start is the last remaining nuclear arms deal between Russia and the US, and its demise would have ended all limits on deployments of strategic nuclear warheads and delivery systems.

The treaty had been set to lapse on 5 February of this year, as the Trump administration had refused to approve the extension.

Both countries are responsible for nuclear strategic stability, Putin said.

We don't want Russia to be like the US: Putin

Putin became visibly irritated responding to questions from an ABC News reporter, who asked the Russian president about his treatment of political opponents.

"If all of your political opponents are dead, in prison, poisoned... Doesn't that send the message that you don't want a political fight?" she asked.

Putin fired back, pointing to the 6 January riots in the US Capitol and said that Russia does not want that sort of "chaos" within its borders.

"People rioted and went into the Congress with political demands," he said. "They were threatened with imprisonment for 20-25 years...On what grounds, we don't always know."

"We sympathise what is happening in the States but we don't wish that to happen in Russia," he said.