Russian President Vladimir Putin gifted President Biden a $12,000 pen and writing set when the pair met for the first time since Biden gained office, according to a new State Department disclosure.
Putin made the gift in 2021 when both leaders met at a presidential summit in Geneva. The White House stated at the time that Biden had given Putin a pair of Aviators sunglasses, but it did not disclose Putin's lavish gift to the president.
State Department records say the gift was given to the National Archives for safekeeping, a common destination for presidential gifts. The White House did not respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital regarding why it hadn't previously disclosed Putin's gift.
The State Department release, first reported by Bloomberg News, describes the gift as a "Kholuy lacquer miniature workshop desk writing set and pen" and listed an estimated value of $12,000. Meanwhile, Biden's glasses had a value of a few hundred dollars.
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The June 2021 summit came just eight months before Putin would invade Ukraine, dashing hopes of improved relations between the U.S. and Russia.
The pen set will likely end up in Biden's presidential library after he leaves office. Gifts granted to U.S. presidents are considered to be the property of the U.S. government, not the individual office-holder. Officials must purchase the items for the estimated price in order to own and use them after leaving office.
Gift-giving among world leaders is an extremely common practice, but Putin's writing set was by far the most expensive gift listed in the State Department's disclosure. For instance, French President Emmanuel Macron also gave Biden a pen, but it was worth just $430. The late Queen of England gave Biden a photo of herself in a silver frame, valued at $2,200.
Relations between Russia and the U.S. have deteriorated completely over the 12 months of Putin's invasion of Ukraine. Biden visited Ukraine to show solidarity with the country earlier this week, before delivering a blistering speech in Poland demanding that Putin "end the war."
