The president of Russia, Vladimir Putin , announced on Wednesday the return of the ambassadors of the United States and the Eurasian country to Washington and Moscow, respectively, after the summit he held with his American counterpart, Joe Biden .
“As for the return of the ambassadors to their places of work (…) we agree that this problem has been solved, they are returning to places of permanent service,” Putin said at a press conference after the meeting, a meeting that he described as “well”. The exact date of the return of the diplomats is “a purely technical matter,” the president added.
The Russian and American ambassadors left Moscow and Washington in April after the Biden Administration imposed a battery of sanctions against the Eurasian country for its “destabilizing actions,” which included efforts to undermine free and fair democratic elections and democratic institutions in the United States. The United States and its allies and partners or participate in and facilitate malicious cyber activities.
At that time, the US Administration blamed the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service as the “perpetrator” of the cyberattack against the software company SolarWinds , which affected some ten US government agencies and more than 100 private companies in early 2021 .
In this sense, after the meeting with the US president, Putin has announced that the United States and Russia will begin a round of consultations on strategic stability and cybersecurity, the latter an “extremely important” issue in the president’s opinion. “It is important for the whole world in general and for Russia and the United States in particular,” he stressed.
Putin has also assured that the two countries are willing to seek solutions to all bilateral problems. “We also agreed that the Russian Foreign Ministry and the US State Department will initiate consultations on the full range of cooperation in diplomatic channels,” he specified, emphasizing that “there are many issues to discuss, the two sides are willing to look for solutions ”, according to the Sputnik news agency.
He also stressed that in the conversation, which he also described as “very constructive”, there was no “hostility”. “On the contrary, our meeting took place in a key of principles; our opinions differ on many points, but, in my opinion, both parties have shown willingness to understand the other and seek ways to bring positions closer, “he continued.
In this sense, and questioned by his personal vision of Biden, the Russian president has indicated that the US president is “balanced, professional, clear and has a lot of experience.” “It has quite attractive moral values and we do speak the same language for this,” he added. Thus, he has claimed to have seen a “glimmer of hope” to regain confidence with Washington after the summit.
Navalni “wanted to be arrested”
During the press conference, the Russian president referred to the Russian opponent Alexei Navalni, currently imprisoned in the Eurasian country. Putin has assured that the opponent was “aware” that he was breaking the law and that he “sought to be arrested” when he chose to return to Russia, after spending time in Germany recovering from a poisoning of which he has directly accused the president.
“This man knew that he was breaking the law in force in Russia. He was required to appear as a person with two suspended prison sentences. Knowingly ignoring, I want to emphasize, that legal requirement, that man went abroad for treatment and the authorities did not demand his appearance. As soon as he left the hospital and published his videos on the internet, that demand was raised, “he explained.
The Russian and American leaders met this Wednesday in the Swiss city of Geneva, a meeting that lasted three and a half hours and that took place at a time of increasing deterioration in bilateral relations between the two countries. The relationship between the United States and Russia have worsened in recent months, due to the situation with Ukraine or the Navalni case, among other aspects.
