Russian President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman said Monday that there were no plans yet for a new summit with U.S. President Joe Biden, contradicting claims by the Elysée Palace and the White House, which had said overnight that the leaders agreed “in principle” to meet provided Russia did not invade Ukraine.
Speaking to reporters, spokesman Dmitry Peskov said there were no “concrete plans” for a new Putin-Biden meeting, but that he was not excluding the possibility. And he said that “dialogue” between the Russian foreign ministry and the State Department would continue. He said that a meeting between Putin and Biden could be coordinated quickly if necessary.
Peskov also announced that Putin had called a large-format meeting of Russia’s Security Council on Monday, and that the Russian president would hold calls with several international leaders. Putin will deliver a speech, Peskov said, and other senior leaders would also speak.
The world has been on edge with the U.S. saying there are now nearly 200,000 Russian forces massed on Ukraine’s borders, and Biden warning repeatedly that he believes Putin has decided to invade the country.
On the conference call with reporters, Peskov confirmed that Putin and French President Emmanuel Macron had held a second phone call Sunday, after a discussion earlier in the day, and he said there was a chance that Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov would meet his French counterpart, Jean-Yves Le Drian.
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Source: Politico
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