Biden ‘to meet Vladimir Putin in a mystery country this summer’ after he called Russian leader a ‘killer’
PRESIDENT Joe Biden will meet with Vladimir Putin face-to-face this summer after he called the Russian leader a "killer" and imposed strict sanctions on the nation for election meddling.
Biden has reportedly offered to meet Putin on June 15-16 in a European country, Russia’s Kommersant newspaper reported, though no specific date or location has yet been agreed upon.
The 46th US President proposed to Putin earlier this month that they hold a summit in a neutral country to help "normalize" relations between Moscow and Washington.
in the last 12 months, with the US accusing Russia of election meddling, carrying out the SolarWinds cyber hack, and putting bounties on the heads of US soldiers in the Middle East.
Further straining relations is Russia's large military build-up on its border with Ukraine and the ailing health of imprisoned Russian opposition activist Alexei Navalny.
Speaking on Russian state television on Sunday, Putin's foreign policy adviser Yuri Ushakov confirmed Putin and Biden were talking about meeting in June, adding: "there are even specific dates."
While Ushakov said the meeting would take place "dependent on many factors", senior Russian officials said Biden's proposal has been "positively" received by the Kremlin.
Should the meeting go ahead in June as suggested, it will coincide with Biden's first trip abroad as president.
Biden is set to travel to Europe in June for the G7 summit in the UK between June 11-13, and then the NATO summit in Belgium on June 14.
The president's proposal to meet was made during an April 13 phone call with Putin, against Russia for the SolarWinds election hack.
Those sanctions were also leveled against Moscow amid a surge of Russian military forces flocking to the Ukrainian border.
"Now is the time to deescalate," Biden said in a speech announcing the measures.
"The way forward is through thoughtful dialogue and diplomatic process. The U.S. is prepared to continue constructively to move forward that process."
Biden, however, warned the US would should Putin chose to "continue to interfere with our democracy."
A month prior, Biden had told an interviewer that with "no soul", prompting the Russian leader to respond, "It takes one to know one."
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However, in a cooling of tensions last week, Moscow announced it would be recalling thousands of troops from the Ukrainian border and permitted doctors to visit Navalny in jail, who had been on a 24-day hunger strike.
Putin also agreed to take part in Biden's 'Leaders on Climate Change' summit last week.
Biden said he was looking forward to working with Russia to combat global warming and said he was "very heartened" by Putin's call for collaboration on new technologies, such as carbon removal.