At present, Geneva looks unusually deserted as the authorities beefed up security measures early this morning: on the day of the Russia-US summit, according to the decision of local authorities, the access of transport and pedestrians to the embankments of Lake Geneva, the Mont Blanc Bridge, as well as to La Grange, where the summit will take place at the villa of the same name, Trend reports with reference to TASS.
At a considerable distance in front of the exits to the embankments, which are important transport arteries of the city, divided into two parts by the lake and the Rhone River, there are "No traffic" signs. Police posts are set up in closed sections of the streets, according to TASS correspondent who made a road trip around the city in the morning. It is now impossible to drive or walk to the Mont Blanc Bridge, decorated with the flags of Russia and the United States for the occasion.
There are few cars on the streets, including public transport, and therefore the city is unusually quiet for a working day. Geneva is usually this quiet on Sundays and long weekends, when shops, offices and businesses are closed. A number of bus routes have now been changed: this affected, in particular, route 5, which passes the Intercontinental hotel. This hotel and its surroundings are included by the authorities in the security zone, since US President Joe Biden, who arrived in Geneva the day before, is staying there. A policeman at the Place des Nations a few hundred meters from the Intercontinental, as TASS correspondent reported, said that the passage was closed and advised to "drive back."