Body language expert says Putin’s lack of eye contact and tapping fingers showed impatience, while Biden was more open

• A communications expert watched Putin and Biden interacting for clues about how their summit went.
• She told the BBC that the power balance seemed equal, though Biden was more eager to engage.
• Putin’s tapping fingers and leaning-back pose gave the sense he wanted the summit to end, she said.
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A body language expert has said the body language of Presidents Joe Biden and Vladimir Putin reveals their attitude to the historic meeting in Geneva, Switzerland.

Communications coach Mary Civiello told the BBC that although Wednesday’s meeting itself was closed to the public, the leaders’ interactions before they got to talking “actually said a lot.”

Civiello suggested that there was no clear power imbalance between the men, but that Putin seemed more impatient with proceedings than Biden.

Their first handshake of the summit was roughly equal in terms of the power dynamic, she said, with Biden being the first to reach over but with Putin making the approach on foot.

The moment they sat down before the meeting – where little was happening but cameras are shooting – is also revealing, Civiello said.

Most telling was a lack of eye contact between the two, she said, going on to comment on their sitting postures.

Putin adopted a familiar laid-back pose in his chair, legs apart, while Biden sat up, and at times turned more towards the Russian leader -“the kind of posture that would open oneself to conversing.”

“Putin’s body language tells you: ‘whatever,'” she said.

She also noted Putin’s hands tapping the side of the chair, “‘just like, ‘when is this going to be over?'”

Looking back at how Putin has interacted with other leaders, like former Presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, or Donald Trump, Civiello noted that the Russian leader is pretty consistent in how he acts with them.

“It kind of sends a message: ‘Don’t expect this meeting to change anything much,'” she said.

Meanwhile, Biden’s pose matched what he has said about his policy position on the meeting – not exactly eager, Civiello said, but open to engagement.