Regular discussions between Russian President Vladimir Putin and American leaders took place frequently during the initial phase of his 25-year leadership.
However, as conflicts escalated between Moscow and the West after the unlawful takeover of Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula in 2014 and accusations of interference in the 2016 U.S. elections, these meetings grew progressively less common, and their atmosphere became less cordial.
Here's what you should be aware of regarding previous meetings between Russian and U.S. presidents:
Putin and Joe Biden had only one meeting during their respective presidencies — in Geneva in June 2021.
Russia was gathering troops along the border with Ukraine, where significant areas in the eastern region had been under Moscow-supported control for a long time; Washington consistently blamed Russia for cyberattacks. The Kremlin was increasing its internal suppression of opposition, imprisoning opposition figure Alexei Navalny several months prior and violently quelling demonstrations calling for his release.
Putin and Biden met for three hours, but no progress was made. They shared statements of mutual respect, yet each strongly reaffirmed their opposing perspectives on multiple topics.
They communicated once more through a video call in December 2021 as conflicts escalated concerning Ukraine. Biden warned of sanctions if Russia launched an invasion, while Putin requested assurances that Kyiv would not become part of NATO – a proposal that Washington and its allies considered impossible.
A subsequent phone call occurred between the two in February 2022, just under two weeks prior to the large-scale invasion. After that, high-level communications ceased entirely, with no publicly reported discussions between them since the invasion began.
Putin met Trump on six occasions during the latter's first term — at and on the edges of G20 and APEC meetings — but notably in Helsinki in July 2018. It was there that Trump stood beside Putin and seemed to endorse his claim that Moscow had not meddled in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, while publicly challenging the conclusive assessment from his own intelligence agencies.
His comments provided a clear example of Trump's readiness to disrupt decades of American foreign policy and unsettle Western partners for the sake of his political interests.
I have strong faith in my intellect, but I'll tell you that President Putin was very firm and resolute in his denial today," Trump stated. "He simply claimed it's not Russia. I'll say this: I don't see any reason for it to be.
After Trump returned to the White House this year, he and Putin have engaged in approximately a half-dozen publicly reported phone calls.
U.S. President Barack Obama met with Putin on nine occasions, and there were an additional 12 meetings with Dmitry Medvedev, who was president from 2008 to 2012. Putin transitioned to the role of prime minister, which enabled him to reset Russia's presidential term limits and seek re-election in 2012.
Obama visited Russia on two occasions — first to meet Medvedev in 2009 and then for a G20 meeting in 2013. Medvedev and Putin also made trips to the United States.
Under Medvedev, Moscow and Washington spoke about "resetting" Russia-U.S. relations after the Cold War and collaborated on arms control agreements. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton famously handed a large "reset" button to Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov during a meeting in 2009. One issue was that instead of the word "reset" in Russian, they used a different term meaning "overload."
Following Putin's return to power in 2012, relations between the two nations became more strained. The Russian government claimed that the Western world was meddling in its internal matters, alleging that they incited anti-government demonstrations that swept through Moscow as Putin prepared for re-election. Authorities intensified their suppression of opposition and civic groups, leading to widespread criticism from around the globe.
In 2013, Obama called off his trip to Moscow following Russia's decision to provide refuge to Edward Snowden, a former National Security Agency employee and whistleblower.
In 2014, the Kremlin unlawfully took over Crimea and supported a rebel movement in eastern Ukraine. The United States and its partners imposed severe sanctions. Ties dropped to the worst level since the Cold War.
The Russian government's 2015 military involvement in Syria to support Bashar Assad added more complexity to relations. Putin and Obama last met in China in September 2016, during a G20 summit, and discussed issues related to Ukraine and Syria.
Putin and George W. Bush met 28 times throughout Bush's presidency, as reported by the Russian news outlet Tass. They engaged in discussions and casual meetings in both Russia and the United States, frequently interacted during global conferences, and highlighted their efforts to strengthen relations between former adversaries.
Following their initial meeting with Putin in 2001, Bush remarked that he "looked the man in the eye" and "found him very direct and reliable," gaining "a feeling of his inner being."
In 2002, they ratified the Strategic Offensive Reductions Treaty – a nuclear agreement that notably cut down each nation's stockpile of strategic nuclear warheads.
Putin was the initial global leader to contact Bush following the 9/11 terrorist incident, expressing his sympathy and backing, and endorsed the U.S. military presence in the regions of Moscow's Central Asian allies for operations in Afghanistan.
He has referred to Bush as "a decent person and a good friend," noting that positive relations with him enabled the resolution of "the most severe and contentious situations."
Bill Clinton visited Moscow in June 2000, just under a month following Putin's swearing-in as president, marking the beginning of a term that continues to this day.
The two met privately, had a casual dinner, toured the Kremlin with Putin, and went to a jazz performance. Their topics of conversation covered arms control, instability in Russia's North Caucasus area, and the conditions in the Balkans.
At a press briefing the following day, Clinton stated that Russia under Putin "has the opportunity to develop wealth and power, while protecting freedom and the principle of law."
The two also met in July of the same year at the G8 summit in Japan, in September — during the Millennium Summit at the U.N. headquarters in New York, and in November at the APEC summit in Brunei.
In an interview with former Fox News host Tucker Carlson last year, Putin mentioned that he asked Clinton in 2000 whether Russia could become part of NATO. The U.S. president reportedly responded with "interesting" and said, "I think yes," but later changed his stance, stating it was "not possible at the time." Putin shared this story to highlight his view of the West's opposition to Russia, emphasizing that it is a large nation with its own perspective.
"We've just understood that they aren't waiting for us there, that's all. Okay, fine," he said.