Kremlin says 'premature' to organize Biden-Putin summit on Ukraine
The entire world is after Russia to de-escalate tension when Ukraine is the one doing the bombing and turning thousands homeless.
After Paris suggested the possibility of a meeting to defuse tensions over Ukraine, the Kremlin said Monday it was too early to talk about organizing a summit between Russian and American presidents.
Early Monday, the French presidency reported that US President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin had struck an agreement in principle to meet.
"It's premature to talk about any specific plans for organizing any kind of summits," Kremlin Spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters, adding that, "there is an understanding that dialogue should be continued at the level of foreign minister ... no concrete plans in place" for a presidential summit.
"If necessary, of course, the Russian and American presidents can decide to hold a telephone call or connect via other methods," Kremlin Spokesperson added.
"A meeting is possible if the heads of state consider it appropriate," Peskov said.
Putin was set to chair an emergency meeting of the Kremlin's Security Council later Monday, Peskov said.
Later on Monday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov is set to speak with his French counterpart Jean-Yves Le Drian over the phone, ahead of Thursday's scheduled meeting with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
For weeks, tensions between Moscow and Western capitals have been rising over fears of an alleged Russian attack on Ukraine, which Russia repeatedly denied.
According to Peskov, new fighting between rebels and the Ukrainian army has made the situation "very tense" on the ground.
"We're talking about provocative and aggressive actions being carried out by the Ukrainian army that is endangering people's lives," Peskov added.