Joe Biden avers proposed meet with Vladimir Putin will be a 'good step' for US-Russia ties

The White House on Friday said that United States President Joe Biden is looking forward to his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin as it will be a 'good step' in the US-Russia relationship to de-escalate tensions and have stable relations.

While speaking to the media, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said, "There is not a meeting with the President locked in yet. Obviously, our President invited him to participate in that meeting because he thinks it would be a good step forward in the relationship to de-escalate, to ensure we have a more stable relationship moving forward, but there is no meeting to confirm at this point in time."

She added, "It is a relationship where we feel we want to move toward a more predictable and stable relationship over the long term. We are also going to reserve our option of putting in place consequences if their actions warrant."

"Hope and expectation": US President Joe Biden

President  Biden on May 4 said that it is his "hope and expectation" to hold a summit with Russian counterpart Putin during the Europe trip scheduled in June. “That is my hope and expectation. We’re working on it," said the US President, while replying to a reporter. In April, Biden had offered Putin a meeting in a third nation in order to discuss the escalating tensions between both US and Russia over Moscow’s developments regarding Ukraine, treatment of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny and other breaking points. Putin advisor Yury Ushakov has also said that the planning is ongoing.

The talks about the US-Russia summit came as Washington last month expelled 10 Russian diplomats over Moscow’s ‘large-scale cyberattack’ on America’s computer systems and interference in the 2020 presidential election. This was followed by Russia’s tit-for-tat expulsions.

Meanwhile, the US President has a packed schedule ahead of him starting with the Group of Seven nations (G7) summit in Britain in mid-June followed by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and European Union (EU) summits in Brussels. 

(With ANI Inputs)