Putin says he wants Biden summit to help establish dialogue

Russian President Vladimir Putin said he expected his summit this week with US President Joe Biden to help establish dialogue between the two countries and to restore personal contacts, the Interfax news agency reported on Sunday.

Biden will meet Putin on June 16 in Geneva for a summit amid strained bilateral relations on a wide array of issues.

“To restore our personal contacts, relations, to establish direct dialogue, to create really functioning mechanisms in those areas that represent mutual interests…,” Interfax quoted Putin as saying in an excerpt from an interview with state television to be aired later.

Handover of cyber criminals

Putin said Russia would be ready to hand over cyber criminals to the United States if Washington did the same for Moscow and the two powers reached an agreement to that effect, the Interfax news agency reported on Sunday.

The White House has said that US President Joe Biden will bring up ransomware cyber attacks emanating from Russia at a June 16 summit with Putin in Geneva.

“If we agree to extradite criminals, then of course Russia will do that, we will do that, but only if the other side, in this case the United States, agrees to the same and will extradite the criminals in question to the Russian Federation,” Putin was quoted as saying.