Kremlin says summit between Vladimir Putin and Joe Biden depends on US behaviour

The Kremlin, on April 14, stated that a summit between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his American counterpart Joe Biden would be contingent on US behavior, a statement that comes days after reportedly asking Washington to scrap plans to impose sanctions. With Moscow escalating its military build-up in Ukraine, Biden on Tuesday dialed Putin and asked him to deescalate tensions in the region. During his call to Putin, the 78-year-old also proposed a summit in a third European country, to deliberate upon the tensions between the two.

However, on Wednesday, Kremlin Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov clarified that the proposed summit “would only be possible” taking into account an analysis of the “actual situation” and “further steps from our counterparts.” Speaking to RIA news agency, the Kremlin spokesperson had previously downplayed the possibility of the summit highlighting that it was still too early to talk about it in tangible terms. "It's a new proposal and it will be studied," Peskov told reporters, saying no preparations for the summit were yet underway.

When asked by Russian daily Kommersant about potential topics of discussion, Peskov asserted that it was too early to comment on that, however, he emphasised that the summit could potentially focus on enhancing bilateral ties. “Bilateral relations are important in those aspects that represent mutual interests and in the discussions that the parties are interested in,” he said.

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The relationship between the cold war foes hit rock bottom last month after Biden publically called Putin a "killer." The Russian President responded by saying "it takes one to know one." Moscow also called its ambassador to the US back. Apart from the Kremlin's treatment and arrest of opposition leader Alexei Navalny, Moscow and the US have also been warring upon Russia's 2014 annexation of Ukraine's the Crimean Peninsula, election meddling, hacking attacks amongst others. 

Earlier, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg expressed the Western military alliance's "unwavering" support for Ukraine and warned Moscow on April 13. Stoltenberg at a news conference with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba called the Russian movements "unjustified, unexplained and deeply concerning". The comments came amid rising in ceasefire violations over the Ukrainian border.

(Image Credits: The Associated Press)