MOSCOW (TASS) - The Kremlin is not anticipating that the first meeting between Presidents Vladimir Putin of Russia and Joe Biden of the United States, will sort out all disagreements and lead to a reset in ties, but suggests that the summit’s significance should not be diminished, Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Wednesday.
“It is unlikely that just from the very first meeting, the parties will find common ground on the issues causing deep divisions. At the same time, it would be also wrong to play down the importance of this meeting,” Peskov stressed.
According to him, Moscow does not expect that this meeting will lead to a reset in bilateral ties. “Perhaps, here we would rather not speak about a reset. The experience of a reset is not the best one in our bilateral relations,” the Kremlin spokesman explained. He also noted that the inert negative potential, which has unfortunately accumulated in Russia-U.S. relations, has also played a role.
Meanwhile, the Kremlin spokesman stressed that the upcoming meeting between the two leaders is very significant. “The important thing is that the presidents will have a chance to exchange views and compare their positions on issues of mutual interest, which are important for the entire world. Those include strategic stability and arms control issues,” Peskov noted.
However, he pointed out that although there should not be any great expectations over the outcome of this meeting, “this is still a very important event in practical terms.”
The Kremlin spokesman is sure that at the meeting with Biden, Putin won’t bring up the issue of sanctions. “President Putin isn’t raising the sanctions issue himself because Russia has never supported these sanctions exercises,” he said.
Commenting on Biden’s recent remark that the sanctions against the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline would be “counterproductive” in terms of European relations, Peskov noted that Russia’s stance was also that these sanctions were “ineffective in general.”