WASHINGTON, June 9. /TASS/. The US is not pursuing a "reset" with Russia following the summit between US and Russian Presidents Joe Biden and Vladimir Putin in Geneva and expects the bilateral relations to remain "persistently difficult," a senior official in the Biden administration told Politico on Wednesday.
According to him, the no crucial agreements should be expected at the meeting, while the leaders will more likely discuss the current disagreements and possible spheres of cooperation. Moreover, the senior official stressed that Biden is not striving for a "reset" with Moscow either, as it was back in 2009 when Barack Obama was in office. "This is not 2009," the official is quoted as saying. "We do not harbor any illusions about a broad basis of cooperation between our two countries, which I think animated some of the approaches back then. We view this [summit] as an important tool to manage what will be a persistently difficult relationship."
"The idea here is to set out the parameters for what can be a predictable, workman-like relationship between our two countries and avoid the kind of ramping up of tensions that have marked U.S.-Russia relations over the course of the last 15 or 20 years," another senior official pointed out. At the same time, he is unsure "whether that’s going to be possible."
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters in late May that Moscow is not expecting all disagreements and disputes to be resolved fully or a reset in the relations between Russia and the US following the first personal meeting between the two leaders but urged not to downplay the importance of the summit.
On Wednesday, Biden headed off to Europe for his first overseas trip where he will attend the G7, NATO, and US-EU summits. The trip will culminate in the bilateral meeting with Putin in Geneva on June 16.