MOSCOW, April 13. /TASS/. The US made steps from confrontation towards dialogue, Russian State Duma Committee on Foreign Affairs Chairman Leonid Slutsky said in the wake of the phone call between presidents Joe Biden and Vladimir Putin.
"The phone call of presidents of Russia and the US amid the escalating situation around the Russian-US relations and on the Ukrainian track is good news rather than bad. It is good primarily because the leaders of the two largest nuclear powers confirmed their readiness to cooperate on strategic stability and arms control," Slutsky told journalists.
The lawmaker pointed out that "it was Biden who expressed his interest in establishment of stable and predictable dialogue on such pressing issues as the Iranian nuclear program, the situation in Afghanistan and the global climate change."
"These are steps from confrontation to dialogue from the US, who initiated this conversation. And this position corresponds not only to mutual interests, but to interests of international security, as well," the senior lawmaker said.
Meanwhile, Slutsky noted that the "tone of the White House’s statement about the phone call was far harsher than that of Kremlin’s."
"The US President most definitely should not be concerned about the relocation of Russian forces within Russia’s own borders. The tensions in Donbass could be de-escalated by Kiev’s implementation of Minsk and Paris agreements. And Biden would do well to tell his direct concerns in this regard to president [of Ukraine Vladimir] Zelensky," Slutsky concluded.