Putin heaps praise on Biden following Geneva summit: ‘He doesn't miss anything, I can assure you'

‘He’s completely across his brief’, the Russian president says of his American counterpart

Russian President Vladimir Putin has lavished praise on US President Joe Biden following their tense meeting in Geneva this week, saying he “doesn’t miss a thing”.

The pair saw out their highly anticipated meeting in Geneva on Wednesday, after which Mr Putin said there had been “no hostility” but no major policy breakthroughs either.

The world had closely watched interactions between the two leaders following growing public tension between them since Mr Biden took office in January.

Ahead of the meeting, Mr Biden and Mr Putin had mutually agreed that the relationship between their two countries was at a historic “low point”.

Although the pair shook hands and smiled upon meeting for the summit, they both gave the impression in the aftermath that their talks had been more professional than jovial.

However, Mr Putin has since apparently revealed his more amiable personal feelings towards the US president while speaking to university graduates by video link on Thursday.

"I want to say that the image of President Biden that our press and even the American press paints has nothing in common with reality," Mr Putin told the graduates.

Mainstream Russian media has a tendency to portray Mr Biden as physically and mentally incapable of managing such high office, but Mr Putin contested this portrayal.

"He was on a long trip, had flown across the ocean, and had to contend with jet lag and the time difference,” the Russian president continued.

Mr Putin added: “When I fly it takes its toll. But he looked cheerful, we spoke face-to-face for two or maybe more hours. He’s completely across his brief.”

While there were no invitations to Washington or Moscow from either leader following the summit, Mr Biden expressed that the talks had been “positive”.

"Biden is a professional, and you have to be very careful in working with him to make sure you don’t miss anything,” Mr Putin insisted on Thursday. “He doesn’t miss anything, I can assure you."

Former President Donald Trump has often pushed the insulting trope of Mr Biden as “sleepy Joe”, suggesting that he is too old or mentally worn out to do his job properly.

Ahead of the meeting with Mr Putin, Mr Trump released a pithy statement telling the president not to “fall asleep during the meeting” in a return to such a narrative.

Reporting by Reuters