Biden says ‘hope and expectation’ for Putin meeting in June

US President Joe Biden said Tuesday he expects to hold a summit with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin during a June trip to Europe.

“That is my hope and expectation,” Biden said.

Biden in April offered a meeting in a third country to discuss rising tensions over Russian sabre rattling around Ukraine, the treatment of jailed Putin opponent Alexei Navalny, and other flashpoints.

A summit has not been confirmed but a Putin advisor, Yury Ushakov, has said planning is underway.

Biden is scheduled to attend a G7 summit in Britain in mid-June, followed by NATO and EU summits in Brussels, which would open the door to the logistics of a separate Putin meeting.

Austria and Finland have expressed interest in hosting the summit.

In April, Washington expelled 10 Russian diplomats over what it says was Russia’s large-scale cyber attack on US computer systems and interference in the 2020 presidential election. Moscow responded with tit-for-tat expulsions.

However, the Biden administration has stressed that it wants to bring stability to the relationship and that Washington and Moscow need to cooperate on key areas, such as nuclear weapons and the climate crisis.