When American and Russian Leaders Meet, a Photo Speaks Volumes

WASHINGTON, June 24 (by Suleiman Wali for RIA Novosti) – “A picture is worth a thousand words,” the saying goes, but a photo of world leaders meeting amidst political tensions may be worth much more.

Against a backdrop of diverging viewpoints about the war in Syria, US President Barack Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin met at the G8 Summit in Northern Ireland last week, and Western media highly played up photos of the two men appearing “grim-faced.”

Despite their disagreements, however, another photo of the presidents at the same meeting paints quite a different picture, with the two appearing jovial as they prepare to shake hands.

Nevertheless, the first image will likely stick in history because it plays to the narrative of current political tensions between the United States and Russia.

Here are 13 other photos of iconic meetings between American and Russian/Soviet leaders over the past 70 years, some of which have generated discussion and analysis years after they were taken.

George W. Bush and Dmitry Medvedev (2008) - Meeting the newly elected Russian president at the G8 summit in Japan, Bush was asked by reporters what he saw when he looked at Medvedev. “I found him to be a smart guy who understood the issues well,” Bush responded. The exchange brought to mind Bush’s remark after his 2001 meeting with then-President Putin (see next image).

George W. Bush and Vladimir Putin (2001) - Meeting Putin for the first time at Brdo Castle in Slovenia, Bush famously said that he had “looked the man in the eye” and “was able to get a sense of his soul.” The remark was widely mocked in American media.

Bill Clinton and Boris Yeltsin (1995) - In a rollicking joint news conference at the Hyde Park, New York, home of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Yeltsin repeatedly referred to Clinton as his good friend “Bill.” At one point, Yeltsin sent Clinton into uncontrollable laughter when he jokingly called journalists covering their meeting “a disaster.”

George H.W. Bush and Boris Yeltsin (1992) - Meeting in casual winter clothes at the US presidential retreat at Camp David, Maryland, the two leaders proclaimed a formal end to the Cold War and agreed to exchange visits in Moscow and Washington by the end of the year.

Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev (1985) - On a chilly November day, Reagan insisted that he arrive before Gorbachev at the Swiss mansion where the Geneva Summit talks were being held so that he could remove his coat and greet the Soviet leader outside. According to analysts, Reagan wanted to leave the impression that he was the host greeting his guest.

Jimmy Carter and Leonid Brezhnev (1979) - At the signing of the second Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT) Treaty in Vienna, the Soviet premier and US president kissed each other on both cheeks after the measure was formalized, an unprecedented gesture among leaders of the two nations.

Gerald Ford and Leonid Brezhnev (1974) - At a summit meeting on arms control in Vladivostok, Russia, Ford wears his fur parka and hat. Brezhnev would later try on the coat in a lighthearted moment between the two world leaders.

Richard Nixon and Leonid Brezhnev (1972) - At the time, Nixon became the first US president to visit Moscow, and only the second to visit the Soviet Union. His trip resulted in the initial SALT agreement. Photos of Brezhnev and Nixon at the Soviet premier’s summer home along the Black Sea coast, like this one, show the world leaders in a unique, relaxed light.

Lyndon Johnson and Alexei Kosygin (1967) - With Cold War divides running high during the Vietnam War, this photo reveals a tense discussion between Soviet Politburo member Alexei Kosygin and American president Lyndon Johnson at a three-day summit in Glassboro, New Jersey.

John F. Kennedy and Nikita Khrushchev (1961) - Reportedly calling it the “worst thing in my life,” Kennedy said the Soviet premier “savaged” him during the two-day summit in Vienna. Having serious disagreements on the impending partition of Berlin, and America’s support of western Germany versus Soviet backing of the country’s eastern half, Khrushchev told Kennedy, “Force will be met by force. If the US wants war, that’s its problem.” To which Kennedy replied, “Then, Mr. Chairman, there will be a war. It will be a cold, long winter.”

Dwight Eisenhower and Nikita Khrushchev (1959) - Despite major ideological differences and political tensions over a divided Germany nearly at their peak, Khrushchev became the first Soviet leader to visit the United States. In this photo the premier presents Eisenhower with a memento that commemorated the Soviet Union’s historic rocket shot to the moon. Nixon, who was then vice president, stands to the left.

Harry Truman and Joseph Stalin (1945) - Gathering in the city of Potsdam, Germany, just nine weeks after the surrender of the Nazis, the American and Soviet leaders, along with British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, gathered to discuss the fate of post-World War II Germany. The meeting took place days before American forces dropped atomic bombs over Japan.

Franklin D. Roosevelt and Joseph Stalin (1945) - The second of the “Big Three” wartime conferences, this one—in the Soviet Union’s resort city of Yalta—was the final one which Roosevelt would attend prior to his death. Its purpose was to discuss the future of the nations of war-torn Europe, which would eventually be split along “occupation zones” by the Allied Powers—a controversial fate that would lay the foundation for the Cold War.