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Kremlin says scheduled talks with Biden ‘convenient’ for Putin

The Russian President and his US counterpart will hold bilateral talks in a video conference on December 7

MOSCOW, December 7. /TASS/. Holding the much-talked about virtual summit with US leader Joe Biden in the evening Moscow time is convenient for President Vladimir Putin, since it’s the middle of the workday for the Russian head of state, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in an interview with Channel One.

"Six o’clock [18:00 Moscow time] for Putin is not the evening, it’s the middle of the workday, and it is also very convenient," the spokesman noted.

Responding to a question on how long the virtual summit would take, Peskov said: "As long as it takes. Such a conversation has no precise timing".

The Kremlin press secretary also added that Putin is not expected to suggest that Biden join the Normandy Format talks (Germany, Russia, Ukraine, France). "He [Biden] is unlikely to receive such an offer from President Putin. It’s a self-sufficient format," Peskov pointed out. Until now, Paris and Berlin have been convinced that the group is self-sufficient, the Russian presidential spokesman stressed. "There is no need to expand it." According to Peskov, the effectiveness of the Normandy Four group has been "rather low" because of Kiev’s reluctance to implement the Minsk deal.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and his US counterpart Joe Biden will hold bilateral talks in a video conference on Tuesday. Putin will contact his US counterpart from his Sochi residence. Earlier, Peskov told journalists that the leaders are expected to discuss the situation around Ukraine, NATO’s eastward expansion, and Putin’s initiative on security assurances.

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Vladimir Putin United States Joseph Biden

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