Shawdesh desk:

US President Joe Biden and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin are preparing sit down for their first, highly-anticipated summit.

The talks in Geneva, Switzerland, come at a time when both sides describe relations as being at rock bottom.

Issues include arms control, sanctions and US allegations of Russian cyber-attacks and election interference.

No major breakthroughs are expected but there are hopes of finding small areas of agreement.

The summit is set to begin at around 13:00 (11:00 GMT). The meeting will be held in a villa overlooking Lake Geneva.

However, there is little prospect that Wednesday’s summit will match that meeting either for personal rapport or political thaw.

(BBC)