WASHINGTON, June 30. /TASS/. The recent Russian-US summit in Geneva created opportunitites for more productive work in the arms control domain, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in an interview with Italy’s RAI TG1 on Tuesday.
"I think what came out of the meeting are some possibilities, at least, of working more productively, for example, on strategic stability, arms control so that we get control of some of the nuclear weapons that remain in an effective way," reads a transcript of the interview, released by the US Department of State.
"Also in the cyber area, we’ve had this - these recent attacks, so-called ransomware," Blinken continued, adding that the US was expecting "practical results" from "some constructive conversations" on the issue.
The US authorities expect that constructive conversations with Russia on cybercrime would produce practical results, Blinken said.
"We want to make sure that it’s clear that no responsible country should be in the business of harboring, giving refuge to criminal organizations engaged in these kind of attacks. I think we had some constructive conversations and we’ll see if there are practical results that flow from it," he said.
In Blinken's opinion, Russia and the United States have areas where they can work together, but reiterated that Washington was ready to respond to Moscow’s "aggressive actions."
"President Biden met with President Putin recently in Geneva and told him very clearly that we would like a more predictable, stable relationship. And if we have that, I think there are areas where we can work together because it’s in our common interest. On the other hand, if Russia chooses to engage in reckless or aggressive actions, we’ll respond, not for purposes of conflict or escalation, but because we will stand up for our interests and values," the US top diplomat said.
The Russian-US summit, initiated by Washington, took place in the Swiss city of Geneva on June 16. Russian President Vladimir Putin and his US counterpart Joe Biden discussed the state and the prospects of the further development of bilateral relations, the issues of strategic security, as well as international matters, including cooperation in the fight against COVID-19 and ironing out regional conflicts. The leaders also announced that the US and Russian ambassadors would return to Moscow and Washington.
The issue of threats in cyberspace gained particular importance in the United States in recent months. In early May, attackers from the DarkSide group hacked into the systems of the American pipeline company Colonial Pipeline. According to American intelligence services, DarkSide may be based on the territory of Russia or Eastern Europe, but is not associated with any government. On May 31, the computer networks of the American division of the Brazilian meat processing company JBS were attacked. According to the White House press service, the company believes that a Russian-based cybercrime organization could be behind this attack.
During his press conference after the talks with Biden, Putin noted that Moscow and Washington could agree on the rules of behavior in the fields of strategic stability, cyber security and regional conflicts.