MOSCOW. April 14 (Interfax) - The presidents of Russia and the United States could meet this summer; actual preparations are already under way, the Federation Council's deputy speaker Konstantin Kosachyov said.
"The roadmap [for U.S.-Russia dialogue] has now appeared: it involves the summit you have mentioned, which could really take place in the next few months, as early as summer, but also - in my view, equally important - the two presidents' instruction to the relevant departments and their aides, their administrations, to properly prepare for this meeting. And that means that this work has already started, from this day," Kosachyov told the Vmeste-RF television channel.
In a telephone conversation with President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday U.S. President Joe Biden suggested meeting in a third country in coming months.
Yesterday, White House spokesperson Jen Psaki said such a meeting could be held this summer.
Such meetings should be the culmination of the work done by experts, Kosachyov said. "The Russian-American relationship is very multidimensional, involving strategic stability and arms control, our efforts in hotspots to settle regional conflicts, of course our trade and economic cooperation even with Americans shamelessly applying sanctions towards Russia. The list can go on, but it is already clear that quite a lot of experts will be needed," he said.
Work will be carried out on several areas simultaneously, he said. "And that this work will at least clarify positions and there will be a kind of exchange of concerns, with the sides highlighting their expectations of the movement in the relevant areas, which is already good."
"It is clear that not everything will turn out well. It is clear it is going to be a very tough negotiation process. But if and when the two sides realize that an agenda is developing for a full-scale summit, this summit will take place, obviously. There are no politicized, no, I should say, contrived obstacles to it. Both sides have signaled their desire to talk, and this is very good news," Kosachyov said.