Get 40% Off
🤯 This Tech Portfolio is up 29% YTD! Join Now to Get April’s Top PicksGet The Picks – Just 99 USD

Kremlin pleased with Putin-Biden summit, hails pledge to never wage nuclear war

Published 06/17/2021, 08:14 AM
Updated 06/17/2021, 08:22 AM
© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: U.S. President Joe Biden, Russia's President Vladimir Putin, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov attend the U.S.-Russia summit at Villa La Grange in Geneva, Switzerland, June 16, 2021. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: U.S. President Joe Biden, Russia's President Vladimir Putin, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov attend the U.S.-Russia summit at Villa La Grange in Geneva, Switzerland, June 16, 2021. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

MOSCOW (Reuters) -The Kremlin said on Thursday it was pleased with what it called a positive summit between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his U.S. counterpart Joe Biden, singling out a joint statement that reiterated the need to avoid nuclear war as significant.

Biden and Putin agreed to launch arms control and cyber-security talks at a Geneva summit on Wednesday, recording small gains and big differences at a meeting which they both described as pragmatic rather than friendly.

They also agreed to return their respective ambassadors to their posts after a rupture in ties earlier this year.

Putin's spokesman said on Thursday that the summit had also laid the ground for what he described as really tough technical talks on a potential prisoner swap between Russia and the United States.

Dmitry Peskov, the spokesman, said the lists of prisoners to be potentially exchanged still needed to be sorted out but was much wider than those publicly discussed. He said negotiations would obviously have to be conducted quietly and in secret.

Peskov, who attended the summit himself, said it had broadly unfolded as Russia had expected and that the meeting, from a Kremlin viewpoint, had gone smoothly.

"It went off rather well, with a plus sign," Dmitry Peskov told the Ekho Moskvy radio station.

"It was productive in the sense that the two leaders had the chance to directly explain their positions, more or less understand where they can cooperate, and where right now they can't cooperate because of categorical differences in their views. That also happened and that's also a plus," he said.

Peskov singled out a joint statement that reaffirmed the two countries' belief that a nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought.

"It may be a short statement but...it reflects the special responsibility of our two countries not only before our own peoples but, as pretentious as it may sound, before the whole world," said Peskov.

Russia's deputy foreign minister said separately that Moscow expected arms control talks with the United States, that were agreed at the summit, to start within weeks.

He said Moscow felt reassured by the joint statement on the need to never wage nuclear war and to start arms control talks.

© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: U.S. President Joe Biden, Russia's President Vladimir Putin, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov attend the U.S.-Russia summit at Villa La Grange in Geneva, Switzerland, June 16, 2021. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

"The confirmation of the formula that there can be no winner in a nuclear war and that one must not be waged is a significant achievement," Ryabkov told the Kommersant daily newspaper.

"Frankly speaking, we had growing concerns in recent years about Washington's readiness to support this. This is not a figure of speech or lofty words but simply a reflection of reality."

Latest comments

Risk Disclosure: Trading in financial instruments and/or cryptocurrencies involves high risks including the risk of losing some, or all, of your investment amount, and may not be suitable for all investors. Prices of cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile and may be affected by external factors such as financial, regulatory or political events. Trading on margin increases the financial risks.
Before deciding to trade in financial instrument or cryptocurrencies you should be fully informed of the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite, and seek professional advice where needed.
Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. The data and prices on the website are not necessarily provided by any market or exchange, but may be provided by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual price at any given market, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Fusion Media and any provider of the data contained in this website will not accept liability for any loss or damage as a result of your trading, or your reliance on the information contained within this website.
It is prohibited to use, store, reproduce, display, modify, transmit or distribute the data contained in this website without the explicit prior written permission of Fusion Media and/or the data provider. All intellectual property rights are reserved by the providers and/or the exchange providing the data contained in this website.
Fusion Media may be compensated by the advertisers that appear on the website, based on your interaction with the advertisements or advertisers.
© 2007-2024 - Fusion Media Limited. All Rights Reserved.