Russia ready for further dialogue if US is willing: Putin

MOSCOW: Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday that Moscow is ready to continue dialogue with Washington after his summit meeting with President Joe Biden, provided the US was also willing to do so.

The two leaders held their first face-to-face meeting in Geneva on Wednesday to ease soaring tensions between Moscow and Washington, with relations at their lowest since the end of the Cold War.

"We are ready to continue this dialogue to the same extent as the American side is," Putin said in televised remarks.

He added that the atmosphere of the meeting was "quite friendly" and two leaders "were able to understand each other on key issues".

When asked to describe Biden, Putin said the US president's portrayal in the press has "nothing to do with reality".

"Biden is a professional, you have to be very attentive when working with him so as not to miss something," Putin said.

"So what that he sometimes confuses things. His press secretary is a young, educated, beautiful woman -- she herself constantly confuses things," Putin said, referring to White House press secretary Jen Psaki.

"It is not because she is poorly educated or has a bad memory, just when people think that some things are secondary they don't focus too much attention on them," he said.

Putin added that "Americans think that nothing is more important than themselves".