--- title: Russian Media Slammed Biden's 'Childish' Tie at Putin Summit description: Russian experts comment on what Biden and Putin's ties say about their characters canonical: https://time.com/6073756/russian-media-biden-tie/ author: Madeline Roache article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2021-06-16T17:15:08.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-14T09:12:29.787Z article:section: Politics og:title: Russian State Media Is Throwing Shade at Biden's 'Childish' Tie og:description: Russian experts comment on what Biden and Putin's ties say about their characters og:url: https://time.com/6073756/russian-media-biden-tie/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta483191125c3cf0f/698a1a704ee262100c319117/Putin-Biden-1.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1024 og:image:height: 576 og:image:alt: US-Russia Summit 2021 In Geneva og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Russian State Media Is Throwing Shade at Biden's 'Childish' Tie twitter:description: Russian experts comment on what Biden and Putin's ties say about their characters twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta483191125c3cf0f/698a1a704ee262100c319117/Putin-Biden-1.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Russian State Media Threw Shade at Biden's 'Childish' Tie > Sponsored content. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=c0587ca6-b941-4ffc-8be7-2c621b4775f5&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Biden’s Summit Gave Putin the World Stage He Craves [Watch (HLS stream): Biden’s Summit Gave Putin the World Stage He Craves](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/VQUPChzw.m3u8) (2:38)  _Published 2021-06-16. All the trappings of a major international summit were on full display as President Joe Biden and Russia’s leader Vladimir Putin met Wednesday in an 18th century manor house overlooking the mountains of Switzerland and waters of Lake Geneva._ by [Madeline Roache](https://time.com/author/madeline-roache/) ## Madeline Roache Jun 16, 2021 5:15 PM UTC by [Madeline Roache](https://time.com/author/madeline-roache/) ## Madeline Roache Jun 16, 2021 5:15 PM UTC As U.S. President Joe Biden and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin met for their first, much anticipated [summit](https://time.com/6053298/putin-biden-summit/) in Geneva, Switzerland Wednesday, Russian state media put aside the many issues between the two leaders to talk about the real power dynamics on display: the leaders’ choice of ties. Speaking to [RIA Novosti,](https://ria.ru/20210616/sammit-1737257435.html) a Russian state-owned news agency which is largely obsequious to Putin, two business etiquette experts gave their take on what Biden’s light blue tie and Putin’s burgundy, geometric-patterned tie could say about their personalities. And while the consultants found that the Russian president’s neckwear signified his essential “decisiveness,” they said Biden’s looked like something a child might wear. Business etiquette consultant Tatyana Nikolaeva, said that Putin’s tie “reflects his desire to protect the interests of the Fatherland by any means possible and to the very last of his strength”. She added that the tie’s “red tint” reflects his “decisiveness” and “determination to defend his negotiating position dynamically.” Burgundy accessories, when combined with a non-burgundy outfit, demonstrates the “creativity” and “originality” of the person, the expert said. Biden’s light blue tie however appears to come from a children’s collection, Nikoleava said, suggesting “some sort of infantilism.” The person was not feeling very confident when they picked out this tie, she added. “It is not for nothing that our people say: an old man is twice a child.” But the light shade may also indicate a desire win over a partner, since light colours are “less frightening,” she said. The consultant added that it is as difficult to scare the Russian president as it is to win him over. Albina Khoglova, President of the National Association of Experts on Business Ethics, Etiquette and Protocol, told RIA Novosti that Putin’s choice of color symbolizes the importance of the occasion, noting that burgundy ties are traditionally worn at high-level meetings in Russia. Speaking about Biden’s tie, she noted that it’s worth keeping in mind that the U.S. and U.K. are not aware of this tradition. So, Biden’s blue tie should not be taken as a sign that the meeting is “unimportant. ## Transcript Thank you Mr. President for coming up with the initiative for this meeting. I know that you've had a very long journey and that you have a lot of work but nevertheless the U.S. and Russia have accumulated a lot of issues that require a meeting at the highest level and I trust that our meeting will therefore be productive. As for cyber security, we have reached an agreement. Chiefly, that we will start negotiations on that. I think that's extremely important but I think just throwing out these insinuations at the expert level that's that's inappropriate we should sit and start working. That's in the interest of the United States and the Russian Federation in principle we've reached agreement about that and Russia is prepared to do it. Well as far as the reinstatement of the ambassadors are concerned, we've reached an agreement that this issue will be resolved they will be returning to service. The permanent service but when specifically it will be tomorrow the day after tomorrow that's a mere technical issue. We've reached an agreement that the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Russia and the U.S. State Department would begin consultations on the full range of interaction on the diplomatic track. So human rights is going to always be on the table I told him. It's not about just going after Russia when they violate human rights, it's about who we are. How could I be the President of the United States of America and not speak out against the violation of human rights? I said your generation and mine are about 10 years apart. This is not a kumbaya moment as you used to say back in the 60s in the United States, like let's hug and love each other, but it's clearly not in anybody's interest, your country's are mine for us to be in a situation where we're in a new cold war. And I truly believe he thinks that he understands that but that does not mean he's ready to quote figuratively lay down his arms and say come on he still, I believe, is concerned about being quote encircled. He still is concerned that we in fact are looking to take him down et cetera. He still has those concerns but I don't think they are the driving forces the kind of relationship he's looking for with the United States. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/6073756/russian-media-biden-tie/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/6073756/russian-media-biden-tie/"},"headline":"Russian State Media Threw Shade at Biden's 'Childish' Tie","datePublished":"2021-06-16T17:15:08.000Z","dateModified":"2026-10-14T09:12:29.787Z","description":"The U.S. President's neckwear suggested “some sort of infantilism,” RIA Novosti said","url":"https://time.com/6073756/russian-media-biden-tie/","keywords":["Londontime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta483191125c3cf0f/698a1a704ee262100c319117/Putin-Biden-1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Madeline Roache","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/madeline-roache/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta483191125c3cf0f/698a1a704ee262100c319117/Putin-Biden-1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"US-Russia Summit 2021 In Geneva","caption":"US-Russia Summit 2021 In Geneva","creditText":"Denis Balibouse— Pool/Keystone via Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/6073756/russian-media-biden-tie/","name":"Russian State Media Threw Shade at Biden's 'Childish' Tie"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Biden’s Summit Gave Putin the World Stage He Craves","description":"All the trappings of a major international summit were on full display as President Joe Biden and Russia’s leader Vladimir Putin met Wednesday in an 18th century manor house overlooking the mountains of Switzerland and waters of Lake Geneva.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/VQUPChzw/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2021-06-16T19:10:27.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/VQUPChzw.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/6073756/russian-media-biden-tie/","duration":"PT2M38S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/6073756/russian-media-biden-tie/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```