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Putin and Biden begin talks in expanded format

Previously, the leaders talked in a narrow format with the participation of Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken

GENEVA, June 16. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin and his US counterpart Joe Biden have begun to hold talks in an expanded format.

"The talks in an expanded format have begun," the Kremlin press service informed. Previously, the leaders talked in a narrow format with the participation of Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken. The talks lasted for approximately 1 hour and 45 minutes, after which the presidents took a short break before the second part of the talks.

The meeting in the expanded format is held with the participation of Russian and US delegations. The Russian delegation includes Sergey Lavrov, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov, Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov, Kremlin Aide Yuri Ushakov and Chief of Russia’s General Staff Valery Gerasimov. In addition, Deputy Chief of the Russian Presidential Office Dmitry Kozak and Russian Special Presidential Envoy for Syria Alexander Lavrentyev were invited to the summit to discuss regional issues, namely Ukraine and Syria.

According to CNN, the US delegation includes Secretary of State Antony Blinken, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, the National Security Council’s Senior Director for Russia Eric Green and Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland.

Russian Ambassador to the US Anatoly Antonov and US Ambassador to Russia John Sullivan are also present at the summit.