Austria, which has maintained its identity as a neutral country even after the Cold War and is not a member of NATO, is a candidate to host the summit of the year, the one between American President Joe Biden and Russian Vladimir Putin. “We welcome the decision of Russia and the United States to meet for a summit between the presidents”, a spokeswoman for the Austrian Foreign Ministry tells us. “The decision on where and when is up to the two countries. Of course, Austria is always available for such high-level talks ”.
Biden-Putin phone call: the US proposes a summit in a third country
The thaw between Biden, who in recent weeks had called Putin a “killer” and often cites Russia and China as the two great strategic adversaries of the United States, took place yesterday with a phone call from Washington during which the head of the House Bianca would have made it clear to Putin that the US “will act firmly in defense of their national interests in response to Russia’s actions, such as cyber intrusions and interference in elections”. Biden proposed a “neutral country” for the eventual summit.
In the same hours as NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg sounded the alarm about the “largest concentration of Russian troops” on the border with Ukraine since the annexation of Crimea in 2014, Biden reiterated to the head of the Kremlin “the unwavering commitment of the US to the maintenance of the territorial sovereignty of Ukraine ”. Washington asked the Russians to “ease tensions”.
From Moscow, the spokeswoman for the foreign minister, Maria Zakharova, confirmed that the Russians are doing their part to prepare the eventual meeting between the two. “From an ideological and political point of view we have wanted, and still want, to develop our relations with the United States, I mean the American people, on a mutually beneficial basis, so that they are useful and necessary for our two countries. But the rhetoric and steps that the United States was taking until recently are simply impossible to ignore, ”Zakharova pointed out.
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