‘It Was Very Uncomfortable’: CNN Analyzes ‘Awkward’ First Meeting Between Biden and ‘Sullen’ Putin

U.S. President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin met, shook hands, and held a brief photo op on Wednesday ahead of an hours-long summit.

The meeting, at a plush villa in Geneza, comes at what both have described as a low point in relations between the two countries.

Biden and Putin were flanked by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. After some shuffling around in their seats, Biden and Putin exchanged words, via a translator. It was hard to hear them over the din of the assembled photographers, but Putin expressed hope that the “meeting will be productive.”

CNN spotted a common theme from the brief photo op: awkwardness.

“That was a pretty awkward photo opportunity at the start of this meeting,” CNN anchor Wolf Blitzer said at its conclusion.

“I did see the face of Putin — he looked very stern,” he added.

“I thought he almost looked sullen,” said CNN chief international correspondent Clarissa Ward. “It was extraordinary. There was no congeniality — not that we expected them to be hugging it out. But neither side was talking to the other. They were both sitting there. Putin slightly like this, very stern.

“It was very uncomfortable, frankly. Basic silence. Few words about having a productive discussion,” she added. “It felt very uncomfortable.”

[WATCH: The Biden-Putin Photo Opp]

“It was so uniform it struck me as deliberate,” said CNN anchor Jim Sciutto. “No eye contact. Putin almost looked like a teenager brought to a dinner by his parents, and he didn’t want to be there, legs apart. But that’s message-sending.”

Sciutto pointed out that Biden “likes to smile” but remained stern in the room with Putin. He also noted that former President Donald Trump and Putin were far more friendly with each other.

“It was a pretty awkward photo opportunity, all of us have covered those kinds of moments, and that one was, I shall say, strange,” Blitzer added.

Watch above, via CNN.

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