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Putin-Biden meeting in Geneva

Open Skies deal unlikely to be on Putin-Biden summit agenda, says Russian senior diplomat

The meeting to be held in Geneva on June 16

MOSCOW, June 2. /TASS/. The issue of the Treaty on Open Skies is not likely to be included in the agenda of the upcoming summit of Russian President Vladimir Putin, and his American counterpart Joe Biden, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov told journalists on Wednesday.

"I don’t think that the subject of the Treaty on Open Skies now deserves to be a part of the agenda which we, as an agency, will propose to the leadership for a discussion at the summit," he specified.

"However, if the situation regarding the approach of the Americans will change for some reason, which, in my opinion, is completely unthinkable, then, of course, the issue may be discussed," the senior diplomat suggested.

President Vladimir Putin of Russia and Joe Biden of the United States are scheduled to meet in Geneva on June 16. This will be the first Russian-American top-level summit since Putin met with former US President Donald Trump in Helsinki in July 2018. The Kremlin announced that the two leaders plan to "discuss the conditions and prospects for further fostering Russian-US relations, strategic stability matters as well as pressing issues on the international agenda, which include cooperation in fighting the coronavirus pandemic and regulating regional conflicts." On May 30, Biden stated that he intended, among other things, to raise the issue of human rights.

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Joseph Biden Sergey Ryabkov

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