President Biden gifted Russian President Vladimir Putin a crystal sculpture of an American bison and a pair of custom-made Aviator sunglasses Wednesday during their historic summit in Geneva.
The crystal statue was crafted by Steuben Glass of New York. It is symbolic of the U.S., which named bison its national mammal in 2016 when former President Obama signed the National Bison Legacy Act into law.
In Russia, over the last 20 years, European bison were reintroduced after their extinction in 1927.
The statue’s base is made of cherry wood, a tribute to first President George Washington, and included a custom engraved inscription plaque commemorating the historic meeting.
The Aviators were made by Randolph USA, which provides the sunglasses to the U.S. military and members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Randolph manufactured the glasses in Massachusetts.
