Russia Expects No Breakthrough at Putin-Biden Summit

Russia does not have high hopes for the first summit between President Vladimir Putin and his American counterpart Joe Biden.

“We are not trying to give the impression that there will be a breakthrough or historical decisions,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Tuesday.

The Biden-Putin summit is scheduled to take place on June 16 in Geneva, Switzerland. Although expectations are not high, Lavrov made it clear that such a meeting was helpful. “The mere fact that there is a consultation at the highest level between the two main nuclear powers is, of course, important,” the minister emphasized.

Lavrov did complain that the rhetoric of the West is not conducive to relations with his country. “We are called an adversary. A wicked country that is spreading its evil influence all over the world,” he said. “Is that a friendly attitude?”

Russia and the United States are currently at loggerheads over all sorts of issues. Biden said last weekend that he wants to talk to Putin about the human rights situation in Russia. “We will not stand by while he abuses those rights,” said the American.

Lavrov stated a day later that his country is ready to discuss “everything”, “including problems in the US”. The minister said that Russia wants to talk about, among other things, the “protection of the rights of the opposition” in Biden’s country.