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Putin satisfied with Biden’s ‘killer’ comment explanation; diplomats to return
After meeting Biden at a stately 18th-century mansion in Geneva, Putin said the ambassadors will return to their posts and take up their functions.
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday said that the Kremlin and Washington have agreed to return ambassadors to each other's capitals after they were withdrawn earlier this year. Speaking at a news conference after meeting with US President Joe Biden in Geneva, Putin said the ambassadors will return to their posts and take up their functions, adding that the question of when the diplomats would return to their post is a “purely technical one.”
US-Russia relations have deteriorated for years, and the strained bilateral ties further soured when Biden said he thought Putin was a "killer". Biden’s remark prompted Russia to recall its ambassador to Washington for consultations. The United States recalled its ambassador in April. Putin also said that he was satisfied with Biden’s explanation over “killer” comments.
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Biden and Putin met at a stately 18th-century mansion in Geneva for a high-stakes summit amid heightened tension between the two rival nations. Their official meetings were broken into two rounds and ended earlier than initially predicted by officials. Both sides had played down the prospect of any major breakthroughs at the summit and the two leaders had decided to hold separate press briefings, unlike the last meeting between Putin and former President Donald Trump after their summit in Helsinki.
On the question of the recent spate of cyberattack cutting across sectors in the United States, Putin said the two countries are going to begin consultations on cybersecurity. “We believe that cyberspace is extraordinarily important. In general, and in particular for the US, and to the same extent for Russia,” he said. However, Putin claimed that Russia was also a victim of cyberattacks.
“We encounter this every year...In the US, I don't think that the US administration is particularly interested in organising that or looking into it. All they do is make insinuations. What we need is expert consultations between us. We agreed to that, in principle, Russia is prepared for that,” he added.
