Easing Tensions, Joe Biden Is Scheduled To Meet Vladimir Putin In Europe

Presiden Joe Biden dan Presiden Vladimir Putin (WIkimedia Commons/Official White House Photo/David Lienemann)

JAKARTA - The President of the United States and President of Russia Vladimir Putin, are scheduled to meet in June to ease tensions between the two countries over the past few months.

However, Russian Foreign Policy Advisor Yuri Ushakov said there was no definite decision regarding this matter. Nevertheless, this bodes well after the tensions between the two countries.

"We will make a decision depending on many factors," said Ushakov, Russia's ambassador to the United States from 1998 to 2008.

Meanwhile, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Sunday 25 April said President Joe Biden's proposal for a meeting with President Vladimir Putin had been positively received and was being considered.

Russia's Kommersant daily, quoting unnamed sources, said President Biden had offered Putin to meet June 15-16 in a European country.

Relations between Russia and the United States have been strained in recent times. In fact, President Biden began his term by trying to build relations with Russia.

President Joe Biden is known to have called President Vladimir Putin on January 26. Much was discussed, from the extension of the New START nuclear weapons deal, the Ukrainian border, the alleged interference in the United States elections to the detention of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny.

However, these things also make relations between the two countries stretch. Russia and the United States have 'snuffed each other' over the deployment of Russian military forces on the Ukrainian border for the past month.

In March, a US intelligence report that mentioned the alleged connection between President Putin and Russia regarding the United States election had long tails. President Biden called President Putin a killer.

President Putin responded to this by recalling the Russian Ambassador to the United States. President Putin also asked to make a video call with President Biden, but it was done online to discuss relations between the two countries, which did not get a response from the United States.

This was one of the lowest points of Russian-US relations after the Cold War era. Despite Moscow's protests, the United States this month imposed a series of new sanctions against Russia for alleged interference in the 2020 elections, cyber hacking, persecution of Ukraine, and other acts deemed defamatory.