MOSCOW, June 16. /TASS/. The Russian and US leaders, Vladimir Putin and Joe Biden, may talk one-on-one if they want to and the duration of their negotiations is not limited, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Channel One.
"The heads of state are the heads of state. If they believe it is necessary to talk one-on-one, they will talk one-on-one, and no one is fixing the time for presidents. This will be absolutely their choice," Peskov said.
According to the Kremlin spokesman, this is the question of expedience. "The agenda is so extensive that certainly, it will be very challenging to limit it to 4 or 5 hours of talks," he explained.
Speaking on why the initial schedule does not include a one-on-one meeting of the leaders, Peskov noted that this fact did not signal at all that the presidents were not ready for such talks. "This is a proposed format, and actually, they will start with communication between the two presidents, Foreign Minister Lavrov and the Secretary of State," he noted.
Moscow takes note of Biden’s statements on Ukraine’s potential NATO membership
Moscow has noted that US President Joe Biden admitted that Ukraine could hypothetically join NATO. This is a new stance, such statements have not been made before, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Channel One.
"As for Ukraine, we heard that President Biden admitted that Ukraine could hypothetically join NATO," he said.
The Kremlin spokesman described this statement as "a new element." "Such statements have not been made before. Of course, Moscow took note of it," he pointed out.
Peskov was confident that, if need be, Russian President Vladimir Putin will clearly outline Moscow’s stance on the issue. He thus answered the question of whether the Russian leader would draw these "red lines" to his US counterpart during Wednesday’s talks in Geneva.
"Putin always expresses himself clearly in outlining the ‘red lines’ for the Russian Federation, especially in such a difficult conversation that lies ahead today," he stressed.