MOSCOW, May 26. /TASS/. The Kremlin is not anticipating that the first meeting between Presidents Vladimir Putin of Russia and Joe Biden of the United States, will sort out all disagreements and lead to a reset in ties, but suggests that the summit’s significance should not be diminished, Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Wednesday.
"It is unlikely that just from the very first meeting, the parties will find common ground on the issues causing deep divisions. At the same time, it would be also wrong to play down the importance of this meeting," Peskov stressed.
According to him, Moscow does not expect that this meeting will lead to a reset in bilateral ties. "Perhaps, here we would rather not speak about a reset. The experience of a reset is not the best one in our bilateral relations," the Kremlin spokesman explained. He also noted that the inert negative potential, which has unfortunately accumulated in Russia-US relations, has also played a role.
Possible issues
Meanwhile, the Kremlin spokesman stressed that the upcoming meeting between the two leaders is very significant. "The important thing is that the presidents will have a chance to exchange views and compare their positions on issues of mutual interest, which are important for the entire world. Those include strategic stability and arms control issues," Peskov noted.
However, he pointed out that although there should not be any great expectations over the outcome of this meeting, "this is still a very important event in practical terms."
The Kremlin spokesman is sure that at the meeting with Biden, Putin won’t bring up the issue of sanctions. "President Putin isn’t raising the sanctions issue himself because Russia has never supported these sanctions exercises," he said.
Commenting on Biden’s recent remark that the sanctions against the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline would be "counterproductive" in terms of European relations, Peskov noted that Russia’s stance was also that these sanctions were "ineffective in general."
Other details
No signing of any documents following the upcoming summit between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his American counterpart Joe Biden is being planned right now, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told.
"No, so far this has not been mentioned, it is not being planned," he stated.
The particular location of the Geneva summit between Putin and Biden, needs to be clarified and it will be picked jointly with Moscow’s American colleagues, Peskov added.
"No, we will consider [it] and agree on this together with the Americans," Peskov said.
On Tuesday, both the Kremlin and the White House said that the Putin-Biden summit would take place in Geneva on June 16. According to the Kremlin press service, the presidents will discuss the current state of and prospects for further development of Russian-US relations, problems of strategic stability, as well as current issues of the international agenda, including cooperation in combating the coronavirus pandemic and settlement of regional conflicts. It will be the first personal meeting between the two leaders since the 46th US president entered the Oval Office. It will also be Putin’s first foreign visit since January 2020, when he visited Israel and Palestine.