In a complete turnaround from US-Russian summits from the last few years, President Joe Biden abandoned the fawning language favored by his predecessor for Russian President Vladimir Putin, saying that he made clear to Putin that the United States would not accept criminal activity sponsored by the Russian government.

According to the Associated Press, Biden stated that he told Putin that Russian cyberintrusions into US utilities and businesses would not be tolerated.  “I pointed out to him, we have significant cyber capability,” Biden said. “In fact, (if) they violate basic norms, we will respond. … I think that the last thing he wants now is a Cold War.”  Putin denied any Russian part in the attacks, although US intelligence puts the responsibility squarely in Moscow’s corner.

The meeting between the two leaders was polite, but far from cordial, with Putin saying there was “no hostility” during the hours-long meeting.  “The meeting was actually very efficient,” Putin said. “It was substantive, it was specific. It was aimed at achieving results, and one of them was pushing back the frontiers of trust.”

The leaders discussed the exchange of their citizens being held by the others’ government, as well as the restoration of some diplomatic services severed after Russian interference in the 2016 and 2020 elections, another action Russian denies responsibility for.

Putin, for his part, attempted to continue the Russian propaganda regarding the January 6th domestic terrorists attacks on the US Capitol, describing the insurrectionists simply as peaceful people trying to exercise their rights to see their representatives, a claim echoed by many US Republicans including Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin.