According to Moscow, Russian President Vladimir Putin and his new U.S. counterpart Joe Biden have confirmed that deep differences between the two countries must be resolved in an intensive dialogue.
In an interview with Rossiya-1 television on Sunday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov made the remarks after the two leaders established their first contact in a telephone conversation on Jan. 26 that was “businesslike and pragmatic,” TASS news agency reported.
Both leaders “clearly confirmed that there are very deep differences, but agreed that the existence of these differences should not mean the lack of dialogue, and on the contrary, these differences require quite intensive dialogue between the two countries,” Peskov said.
He further pointed to Ukraine as one of those differences, saying that after the phone call, the Kremlin press service used the term “inter-Ukrainian agreement,” while White House press secretary Jen Psaki called it “Russia’s continued aggression” against Ukraine.
“This is the position of the United States of America, which we strongly oppose,” Peskov stressed, adding, “This is one of the conceptual differences that is currently on the agenda of our relations.”
The Kremlin spokesman went on to say that Putin would continue to explain to the other party the position Moscow takes on the Ukraine crisis.
Relations between Moscow and the U.S. and the rest of Europe have particularly deteriorated since 2014, when the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea rejoined Russia after a referendum in which more than 90 percent of participants voted in favor of the move. The West calls the reunification Russia’s annexation of Ukrainian land.
On Ukraine, the European Union has followed Washington’s lead in imposing several rounds of sanctions on Moscow.
In addition, armed clashes between Kiev and pro-Russian forces have erupted in eastern parts of Ukraine, killing thousands so far. A wave of protests toppled a democratically elected pro-Russian government and replaced it with a pro-Western administration.
The majority in these areas refused to endorse the new government and have turned the two regions of Donetsk and Lugansk – known collectively as Donbass – into self-proclaimed republics. Kiev and its Western allies, including the United States, accuse Moscow of involvement in the crisis. Moscow, however, denies the allegations.
Peskov said remotely that Moscow initiated the 35-minute phone conversation “literally a few days” after Biden’s Jan. 20 inauguration.
Putin and Biden also discussed urgent bilateral and international issues, including cooperation in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic and other areas, namely trade and the economy, Peskov said.
He added that the leaders were particularly pleased with the exchange of diplomatic notes on the expansion of the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START) between the two nuclear powers.
Earlier this week, Putin signed legislation to extend the New START treaty, which former U.S. President Donald Trump refused to renew and was set to expire Feb. 5.
New START is the last remaining nonproliferation agreement between Russia and the United States after the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF), another key arms control treaty, expires in August 2019.
Peskov went on to say Sunday that the new U.S. administration has shown “political will” in agreeing to extend New START.
“We see that the new administration of President Biden has shown this political will. Moreover, they have even outlined a proposal for five years,” Peskov stressed, saying, “This is a very good proposal, which of course was immediately supported by Russia.”
New START was signed between Washington and Moscow in 2010 under then-U.S. and Russian Presidents Barack Obama and Dmitry Medvedev.
The treaty prohibits the two states from deploying more than 1,550 nuclear warheads and 700 missiles and bombers. It also provides for a rigorous compliance verification process.
by Xavier Cuesta – European Correspondent – EuroNews