A four-hour summit between US President Joe Biden and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on Wednesday took place in a "constructive spirit" according to the Kremlin leader.
The summit at a Swiss lakeside villa was the final leg of Mr Biden's eight-day trip to Europe and was an effort to address the high tensions between Moscow and the West.
After the talks concluded, Mr Putin said the two sides had agreed to return US and Russian ambassadors to their posts after both diplomats were recalled earlier this year.
President Biden said the two men had discussed how to boost humanitarian aid into Syria as well as the challenges posed by Iran to the region and arms control. "The tone of the entire meeting was good, it was positive," he said.
The US leader said that America was not singling out Russia on issues such as human rights, an issue that was in the country's "DNA". He said the meeting was designed to set up a bilateral strategic dialogue to control new and dangerous weapons that are coming on the scene. He said he gave the Russians a list of 16 strategic areas that were off limits for cyber attacks.
"I told President Putin that my agenda was not against Russia," Mr Putin. "The bottom line is that I told President Putin we need to have some basic rules of the road that we can abide by.
He said the countries would hold further talks on cyber security and on strategic arms control discussions on the future of the world's two largest nuclear arsenals. A written statement confirmed Washington and Moscow would embark on an integrated bilateral Strategic Stability Dialogue that would lay the ground work for future arms control and risk reduction measures.
"There's been no hostility. On the contrary, our meeting took place in a constructive spirit," Mr Putin told a press conference.
"Both sides expressed their intentions to understand each other and to seek common ground. The talks were quite constructive."
Mr Biden came with a message that the US would stand up to cyber aggression from Moscow, after Russian operatives were repeatedly accused of meddling in US affairs.
He said he would tell Mr Putin that “if he chooses not to co-operate and acts in a way that he has in the past … then we will respond. We will respond in kind”.
The leaders got down to business in Geneva following a photo opportunity that descended into a chaotic scrum between the press pool and security forces.
Afterwards it was clear there was some progress as Mr Putin revealed officials would "would begin consultations on the full range of interaction on the diplomatic track". There was no mention by Mr Putin of talks on issues surrounding Iran, Libya or Syria.
Flanked by Mr Putin, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Mr Biden had opened the encounter saying it was "always better to meet face to face".
He described Mr Biden as "very different" from his predecessor, Donald Trump. "His predecessor had a different view," Mr Putin said. "This one decided to act differently. His reply was different from Trump’s."
High tensions
In April, Russia was hit with a series of sanctions in the aftermath of the SolarWinds attack on US government agencies.
Ransomware attacks were a significant topic of conversation, a senior official in Mr Biden's administration said. But the Russian leader was emphatic that the US was casting unwarranted blame on Russia.
“According to US sources the majority of cyberattacks in the world are performed from US cyberspace," he said. "The second one is Canada, then two Latin American states, and then the UK. Russia is not listed among the cyberspaces where the majority of cyberattacks come from.”
Swiss President Guy Parmelin had acted as the host for the talks, which proceeded without a break for food but were cut short from an initial three rounds to two.
Geneva was the location of a summit in 1985 between Ronald Reagan, US president at the time, and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev.
Three decades after the end of the Cold War, the US and Russia still possess most of the world’s nuclear stockpile, and both have put more of their warheads into deployment.
Renewed for five years in January, New Start is the only remaining arms treaty between the two powers.
It was agreed in 2011, which was when Mr Biden last met Mr Putin, while serving as vice president under Barack Obama.
After attempting a "reset" of US-Russia relations, Mr Obama imposed sanctions on Russia over the annexation of Crimea and election interference, before leaving office in 2017.
Nato Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on Monday that relations with Russia were at their lowest point since the Cold War.
The EU’s foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell said on Wednesday that the prospect of better relations between Europe and Russia appeared more distant that ever.
"We believe that a renewed partnership, allowing us to realise the full potential of a close co-operation with Russia, is a distant prospect.
"The EU, therefore, needs to be realistic and prepare for a further downturn of our relations with Russia."
Mr Borrell was presenting a report that outlined how the EU could better manage relations with Russia.
The document said that “the potential for EU-Russia co-operation is considerable”.
“However, the Russian government is actively pursuing objectives that go in the opposite direction,” it added.
The biog
Hometown: Birchgrove, Sydney Australia
Age: 59
Favourite TV series: Outlander Netflix series
Favourite place in the UAE: Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque / desert / Louvre Abu Dhabi
Favourite book: Father of our Nation: Collected Quotes of Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan
Thing you will miss most about the UAE: My friends and family, Formula 1, having Friday's off, desert adventures, and Arabic culture and people
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BIGGEST CYBER SECURITY INCIDENTS IN RECENT TIMES
SolarWinds supply chain attack: Came to light in December 2020 but had taken root for several months, compromising major tech companies, governments and its entities
Microsoft Exchange server exploitation: March 2021; attackers used a vulnerability to steal emails
Kaseya attack: July 2021; ransomware hit perpetrated REvil, resulting in severe downtime for more than 1,000 companies
Log4j breach: December 2021; attackers exploited the Java-written code to inflitrate businesses and governments
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
A list of the animal rescue organisations in the UAE
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
ICC Women's T20 World Cup Asia Qualifier 2025, Thailand
UAE fixtures
May 9, v Malaysia
May 10, v Qatar
May 13, v Malaysia
May 15, v Qatar
May 18 and 19, semi-finals
May 20, final
How much do leading UAE’s UK curriculum schools charge for Year 6?
- Nord Anglia International School (Dubai) – Dh85,032
- Kings School Al Barsha (Dubai) – Dh71,905
- Brighton College Abu Dhabi - Dh68,560
- Jumeirah English Speaking School (Dubai) – Dh59,728
- Gems Wellington International School – Dubai Branch – Dh58,488
- The British School Al Khubairat (Abu Dhabi) - Dh54,170
- Dubai English Speaking School – Dh51,269
*Annual tuition fees covering the 2024/2025 academic year
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Freezer tips
- Always make sure food is completely cool before freezing.
- If you’re cooking in large batches, divide into either family-sized or individual portions to freeze.
- Ensure the food is well wrapped in foil or cling film. Even better, store in fully sealable, labelled containers or zip-lock freezer bags.
- The easiest and safest way to defrost items such as the stews and sauces mentioned is to do so in the fridge for several hours or overnight.
MATCH INFO
Tottenham Hotspur 3 (Son 1', Kane 8' & 16') West Ham United 3 (Balbuena 82', Sanchez og 85', Lanzini 90' 4)
Man of the match Harry Kane
The specs
Engine: four-litre V6 and 3.5-litre V6 twin-turbo
Transmission: six-speed and 10-speed
Power: 271 and 409 horsepower
Torque: 385 and 650Nm
Price: from Dh229,900 to Dh355,000
More from Rashmee Roshan Lall
At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
Gothia Cup 2025
4,872 matches
1,942 teams
116 pitches
76 nations
26 UAE teams
15 Lebanese teams
2 Kuwaiti teams
Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
F1 The Movie
Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem
Director: Joseph Kosinski
Rating: 4/5
The years Ramadan fell in May
Lexus LX700h specs
Engine: 3.4-litre twin-turbo V6 plus supplementary electric motor
Power: 464hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 790Nm from 2,000-3,600rpm
Transmission: 10-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 11.7L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh590,000
ALRAWABI%20SCHOOL%20FOR%20GIRLS
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The specs
Engine: 2.3-litre, turbo four-cylinder
Transmission: 10-speed auto
Power: 300hp
Torque: 420Nm
Price: Dh189,900
On sale: now
Tearful appearance
Chancellor Rachel Reeves set markets on edge as she appeared visibly distraught in parliament on Wednesday.
Legislative setbacks for the government have blown a new hole in the budgetary calculations at a time when the deficit is stubbornly large and the economy is struggling to grow.
She appeared with Keir Starmer on Thursday and the pair embraced, but he had failed to give her his backing as she cried a day earlier.
A spokesman said her upset demeanour was due to a personal matter.
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
Zayed Sustainability Prize
MATCH INFO
Liverpool v Manchester City, Sunday, 8.30pm UAE
Scream%20VI
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The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
- Price: Not announced yet
Background: Chemical Weapons
if you go
The flights
Air Astana flies direct from Dubai to Almaty from Dh2,440 per person return, and to Astana (via Almaty) from Dh2,930 return, both including taxes.
The hotels
Rooms at the Ritz-Carlton Almaty cost from Dh1,944 per night including taxes; and in Astana the new Ritz-Carlton Astana (www.marriott) costs from Dh1,325; alternatively, the new St Regis Astana costs from Dh1,458 per night including taxes.
When to visit
March-May and September-November
Visas
Citizens of many countries, including the UAE do not need a visa to enter Kazakhstan for up to 30 days. Contact the nearest Kazakhstan embassy or consulate.
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
