Russian and US security chiefs meet in Geneva in push for summit

Then-Vice President Joe Biden shakes hands with Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin in Moscow in 2011. Will their next meeting be in Geneva? Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved

The national security advisers of Russia and the United States held wide-ranging talks in Geneva on Monday in what both sides described as an important step in preparing for a possible summit between US President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan and Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolay Patrushev discussed a range of issues, with a focus on strategic stability, according to the White House and the Russian Security Council, quoted by the Russian TASS news agency.

“The meeting was an important step in the preparation for a planned US-Russia summit, the date and location of which will be announced later,” the White House said. “The sides expressed confidence that mutually acceptable solutions could be found in a number of areas.”

The two sides said normalisation of US-Russian ties would be in the interests of both countries.

Geneva summit?

Biden said this month he expected to meet Putin soon, adding that differences between the two countries would not need to be resolved in advance of a summit.

The Biden administration would like to add a summit with Putin in a third country while the US president is in Europe in mid-June for a G7 meeting in Britain and talks with NATO allies in Brussels.

On Monday the Tages-Anzeiger newspaper in Zurich reported that the two leaders would meet in SwitzerlandExternal link, citing unidentified but “reliable” sources.

The paper said an advance US mission had already arrived in Geneva for that purpose. It said the summit would “most likely take place in the coming weeks in Geneva”.