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Potential Putin-Biden summit doesn’t run counter to Ukraine’s interests - top diplomat

According to Dmitry Kuleba, the summit will help Ukraine buy time amid growing tensions in Donbass

NEW YORK CITY, May 6. /TASS/. A would-be summit between Russian and US Presidents, Vladimir Putin and Joe Biden, in no way runs counter to Ukraine’s interests, on the contrary, it will help it buy time amid the escalation in Donbass, Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba said in an interview with CNN on Wednesday ahead of US Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s visit to Kiev.

"I understand those who do feel anxious (about the summit), because of the lack of information, because of conspiracy theories, because of the inherited fear of betrayal," he said. "But I see it from another perspective — from the professional diplomatic perspective. And I do not see anything that would go against the interests of Ukraine, at least at this point."

According to Kuleba, the summit will help Ukraine buy time amid growing tensions in Donbass because Russia would not take any actions while the summit is being planned.

On April 13, Putin and Biden had their second telephone conversation after Biden’s taking the presidential office. According to the Kremlin, the two presidents discussed the situation in bilateral relations and a number of international problems. The White House said after the phone call that Biden had offered to organize a summit meeting in a third country within months. Later, Biden explained he had suggested a meeting be held in the coming summer in Europe, when he comes to Europe to attend Group of Seven and NATO summits in mid-June. The G7 summit will be held in the seaside resort of Carbis Bay, Cornwall, the UK, on June 11-13, and a NATO summit is scheduled for June 14 in Brussels.

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